The Council of Canadians is working on a new book tentatively titled – The Rights of Nature: The Case for a Universal Declaration on the Rights of Mother Earth.
The book will include writings from movement leaders and activists, including Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow, and is scheduled to be published in late-February or early-March 2011. It is being developed in collaboration with Global Exchange, Navdanya, EnAct International, and Fundacion Pachamama.
THE UNIVERSAL DECLARATION ON THE RIGHTS OF MOTHER EARTH
Barlow recently stated at the Council of Canadians 25th anniversary annual general meeting in Ottawa this past October, “We hope that one day a Universal Declaration on the Rights of Mother Earth will stand as the companion to the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights as one the guiding covenants of our time.”
She writes, “There is a huge scramble by the private companies of the Global North to convert the lands they leave behind into free trade zones to serve a global economy based on the doctrine of economic globalization, unregulated markets, more and cheaper consumer goods and unlimited growth. Unlimited growth assumes unlimited resources and this is the genesis of the crisis. From fish in the sea, and old growth forests and wetlands, to oil, clean air and water, we are plundering our planet’s natural resources. Quite simply, to feed the increasing demands of our consumer based capitalist system, humans have seen nature as a great resource for our personal convenience and profit, not as a living ecosystem from which all life springs. So we have built our economic and development policies based on a human-centric model and assumed either that nature would never fail to provide or that, where it does fail, technology will save the day.”
Barlow highlights, “The world needs the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth and all humans need to internalize its key principles if the planet, and we, are to survive.”
Vandana Shiva recently stated, “Earth democracy protects the ecological processes that maintain life and the fundamental human rights that are the basis of the right to life, including the right to water, food, health, education, jobs and livelihoods. We have to make a choice. Will we obey the market laws of corporate greed or Gaia’s laws for maintenance of the earth’s ecosystems and the diversity of its beings? People’s need for food and water can be met only if nature’s capacity to provide food and water is protected. Dead soils and dead rivers cannot give food and water. Defending the rights of Mother Earth is therefore the most important human rights and social justice struggle. It is the broadest peace movement of our times.”
AT THE UNITED NATIONS
On April 22, 2009, Bolivian President Evo Morales called on the United Nations General Assembly to develop a Universal Declaration on the Rights of Mother Earth. On December 22 of that year, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution that called on all countries and the Secretary General to share their experiences and perspectives on how to create ‘harmony with nature’. This session will be a key moment in advancing the rights of nature and their recognition at the United Nations. A draft Universal Declaration on the Rights of Mother Earth was developed in April 2010 and presented to the Secretary General of the United Nations this past May 7.
