Towards the Rights of Mother Earth (Perspectives, Challenges and Opportunities)

Szegedi Tudományegyetem Állam- és Jogtudományi Kar

Towards the Rights of Mother Earth (Perspectives, Challenges and Opportunities)

Annual EELF Conference 2017 Sustainable Management of Natural Resources - Legal Approaches & Instruments Copenhagen, August 30th, 2017

6720 Szeged, Tisza Lajos. krt. 54. Tel.: (36)-62/544-196, 544-197 H-6701 Postbox 454 Fax: (36)-62/544-204 http://www.juris.u-szeged.hu

Szegedi Tudományegyetem Állam - és Jogtudományi Kar

Overview

I. Current Environmental Perspectives II. Challenges: Nature as a holder of rights III. Legal Opportunities IV. Judicial Opportunities V. Conclusions 6720 Szeged, Tisza Lajos. krt. 54. Tel.: (36)-62/544-196, 544-197 H-6701 Postbox 454 Fax: (36)-62/544-204 http://www.juris.u-szeged.hu


Current Environmental Perspectives 6720 Szeged, Tisza Lajos. krt. 54. Tel.: (36)-62/544-196, 544-197 H-6701 Postbox 454 Fax: (36)-62/544-204 http://www.juris.u-szeged.hu


I. Current Environmental Perspectives

Worldwide Environmental Concern:

Climate Change Global Warming Water Crisis Biodiversity Loss Deforestation 6720 Szeged, Tisza Lajos. krt. 54. Tel.: (36)-62/544-196, 544-197 H-6701 Postbox 454 Fax: (36)-62/544-204 http://www.juris.u-szeged.hu



Legally Binding International Instruments: Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Covenant on Civil and Political Rights Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) U. N. Framework Convention on Climate Change

Convention on Biological Diversity Convention to Combat Desertification 6720 Szeged, Tisza Lajos. krt. 54. Tel.: (36)-62/544-196, 544-197 H-6701 Postbox 454 Fax: (36)-62/544-204 http://www.juris.u-szeged.hu



Anthropocentrism • Human-centered fundamentals • Hierarchical structure • Intrinsic and instrumental values • Moral superiority of human beings 6720 Szeged, Tisza Lajos. krt. 54. Tel.: (36)-62/544-196, 544-197 H-6701 Postbox 454 Fax: (36)-62/544-204 http://www.juris.u-szeged.hu



Anthropocentrism

Humans are never morally reproachable, unless they also infringe damage against themselves.

Only human beings deserve moral standing recognition 6720 Szeged, Tisza Lajos. krt. 54. Tel.: (36)-62/544-196, 544-197 H-6701 Postbox 454 Fax: (36)-62/544-204 http://www.juris.u-szeged.hu



Biocentrism • Life-centered fundamentals • Non-hierarchical structure • All living beings deserve intrinsic values • Moral considerability for animals 6720 Szeged, Tisza Lajos. krt. 54. Tel.: (36)-62/544-196, 544-197 H-6701 Postbox 454 Fax: (36)-62/544-204 http://www.juris.u-szeged.hu



Ecocentrism • Holistic view • Moral standing to the ecological wholes, such as ecosystems and species • Interactions between biotic and abiotic elements 6720 Szeged, Tisza Lajos. krt. 54. Tel.: (36)-62/544-196, 544-197 H-6701 Postbox 454 Fax: (36)-62/544-204 http://www.juris.u-szeged.hu


Challenges: Nature as a holder of rights 6720 Szeged, Tisza Lajos. krt. 54. Tel.: (36)-62/544-196, 544-197 H-6701 Postbox 454 Fax: (36)-62/544-204 http://www.juris.u-szeged.hu


II. Challenges: Nature as a holder of rights

I am quite seriously proposing that we give legal rights to forests, oceans, rivers and other so-called "natural objects" in the environment-indeed, to the natural environment as a whole. Christopher D. Stone, 1972 6720 Szeged, Tisza Lajos. krt. 54. Tel.: (36)-62/544-196, 544-197 H-6701 Postbox 454 Fax: (36)-62/544-204 http://www.juris.u-szeged.hu



Mineral King Valley (Sierra Club v. Morton) (Source: http://earthjustice.org/mineralking/lawyer/) 6720 Szeged, Tisza Lajos. krt. 54. Tel.: (36)-62/544-196, 544-197 H-6701 Postbox 454 Fax: (36)-62/544-204 http://www.juris.u-szeged.hu


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Facts: U.S. Forest Service had granted a 30year permit to WDP. Sierra Club claimed successfully for a preliminary injunction against the U.S. Forest Service. The Court of Appeals reversed the previous judgement, reasoning that Sierra Club was not the proper plaintiff. Walt Disney Productions, Inc – Ski Resort (Source: https://discuss.micechat.com/blogs/samland/7381200-)




We should go further than that and ask ourselves if we have not discovered the rights of a new legal entity called Nature (or the Environment) by admit- ting that the natural environment has to be protected against human activity.

Godofredo Stutzin, 1976 6720 Szeged, Tisza Lajos. krt. 54. Tel.: (36)-62/544-196, 544-197 H-6701 Postbox 454 Fax: (36)-62/544-204 http://www.juris.u-szeged.hu



Yet there can be no sustainable future, even for the modern industrial world, unless these inherent rights of the natural world are recognized as having legal status. Thomas Berry, 1999 6720 Szeged, Tisza Lajos. krt. 54. Tel.: (36)-62/544-196, 544-197 H-6701 Postbox 454 Fax: (36)-62/544-204 http://www.juris.u-szeged.hu



This Earth jurisprudence is needed to guide the realignment of human governance systems with the fundamental principles of how the universe functions (. . . The Great Jurisprudence‘).. Cormac Cullinan, 2002 6720 Szeged, Tisza Lajos. krt. 54. Tel.: (36)-62/544-196, 544-197 H-6701 Postbox 454 Fax: (36)-62/544-204 http://www.juris.u-szeged.hu


Legal Opportunities



III. Legal Opportunities

Ordinance # 612 of Tamaqua Borough, (Pennsylvania, USA, 2006) Section 7.6: Borough residents, natural communities, and ecosystems shall be considered to be "persons" for purposes of the enforcement of the civil rights of those residents, natural communities, and ecosystems. 6720 Szeged, Tisza Lajos. krt. 54. Tel.: (36)-62/544-196, 544-197 H-6701 Postbox 454 Fax: (36)-62/544-204 http://www.juris.u-szeged.hu



Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador (2008) Article 71. Nature, or Pacha Mama, where life is reproduced and occurs, has the right to integral respect for its existence and for the maintenance and regeneration of its life cycles, structure, functions and evolutionary processes. 6720 Szeged, Tisza Lajos. krt. 54. Tel.: (36)-62/544-196, 544-197 H-6701 Postbox 454 Fax: (36)-62/544-204 http://www.juris.u-szeged.hu



Rights of Mother Earth Act (Bolivia, 2010) Article 5. (Legal Character of Mother Earth). Mother Earth will adopt the condition of collective subject of public interest, in order to protect and ward its rights. Mother Earth and all of its components, including human communities, are bearers of the whole inherent rights recognized by means of this law. 6720 Szeged, Tisza Lajos. krt. 54. Tel.: (36)-62/544-196, 544-197 H-6701 Postbox 454 Fax: (36)-62/544-204 http://www.juris.u-szeged.hu


III. Legal Opportunities Te Awa Tupua

(Whanganui River Claims Settlement) Act (New Zealand, March 2017) 14 Te Awa Tupua declared to be legal person (1) Te Awa Tupua is a legal person and has all the rights, powers, duties, and liabilities of a legal person. 6720 Szeged, Tisza Lajos. krt. 54. Tel.: (36)-62/544-196, 544-197 H-6701 Postbox 454 Fax: (36)-62/544-204 http://www.juris.u-szeged.hu


Judicial Opportunities



IV. Judicial Opportunities

The critical question of "standing" would be simplified and also put neatly in focus if we fashioned a federal rule that allowed environmental issues to be litigated before federal agencies or federal courts in the name of the inanimate object about to be despoiled, defaced, or invaded by roads and bulldozers, and where injury is the subject of public outrage. Justice William O. Douglas, 1972 (Dissent Sierra Club v. Morton) 6720 Szeged, Tisza Lajos. krt. 54. Tel.: (36)-62/544-196, 544-197 H-6701 Postbox 454 Fax: (36)-62/544-204 http://www.juris.u-szeged.hu



It occurred to me that if standing were the barrier, why not designate Mineral King, the wilderness area itself, as the plaintiff "suffering legal wrong," let the Sierra Club be characterized as the area's attorney or guardian ad litem, and get on with the merits?

Christopher D. Stone, 1985 6720 Szeged, Tisza Lajos. krt. 54. Tel.: (36)-62/544-196, 544-197 H-6701 Postbox 454 Fax: (36)-62/544-204 http://www.juris.u-szeged.hu



General Organic Code of Procedures (Ecuador, 2015) Article 38. Representation of Nature. Nature will be represented by any natural or legal person, community or Ombudsman, who can bring lawsuits by own initiative. 6720 Szeged, Tisza Lajos. krt. 54. Tel.: (36)-62/544-196, 544-197 H-6701 Postbox 454 Fax: (36)-62/544-204 http://www.juris.u-szeged.hu



Mohd. Salim v. State of Uttarakhand & others (India, 2014) [T]he Rivers Ganga and Yamuna, all their tributaries, streams, every natural water flowing with flow continuously or intermittently of these rivers, are declared as juristic/legal persons/living entities having the status of a legal person with all corresponding rights, duties and liabilities of a living person in order to preserve and conserve […] 6720 Szeged, Tisza Lajos. krt. 54. Tel.: (36)-62/544-196, 544-197 H-6701 Postbox 454 Fax: (36)-62/544-204 http://www.juris.u-szeged.hu



Tierra Digna & others v. Colombia (2016) Fourth. To recognize to Atrato River, its watershed and tributaries as a subject of law, in order to protect, conserve, maintain and restorate from State burdens and ethnic communities […] 6720 Szeged, Tisza Lajos. krt. 54. Tel.: (36)-62/544-196, 544-197 H-6701 Postbox 454 Fax: (36)-62/544-204 http://www.juris.u-szeged.hu


Conclusions



a)

V. Conclusions

Legal standing of nature is not a constructed theory, but a concept in continuous transformation. The ethical and legal development of the grounds has to be debated in wider spaces in order to reach a better diffusion and improve its contents.

b) Through the recognition of rights of nature, it will be possible to count on a valid alternative to protect natural resources without regard to human injuries as the only legitimate judicial mechanism before courts. 6720 Szeged, Tisza Lajos. krt. 54. Tel.: (36)-62/544-196, 544-197 H-6701 Postbox 454 Fax: (36)-62/544-204 http://www.juris.u-szeged.hu


V. Conclusions

c)

The recognition of rights of nature means a complete renovation of instruments and mechanism of environmental management and public policy, among others.

d)

Currently, given legislation in force worldwide, a real representation of Nature as a holder of rights is only possible through the perspective of legal person.



e)

V. Conclusions

Given that it is a theory under construction, there are a lot of topics for future research. For instance: The implications of rights of property, the shift from Human Rights towards Rights of Nature, or the derivative personality of Nature.



Thank you

Santiago Vallejo Galárraga [email protected] 6720 Szeged, Tisza Lajos. krt. 54. Tel.: (36)-62/544-196, 544-197 H-6701 Postbox 454 Fax: (36)-62/544-204 http://www.juris.u-szeged.hu

Towards the Rights of Mother Earth (Perspectives, Challenges and Opportunities)

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