Earth Law Center Blog
The Rights of Nature in Brazil: From Municipal Law Reform to Rights of Waves and the Movement for a Federal Constitutional Amendment
Brazil’s Rights of Nature (direitos da natureza) movement includes such highlights as the recent approval for the rights of the Linhares waves and of the Amazonian Komi Memen River. In this blog post, we begin with a brief look at the history of environmental protection in modern Brazil. We then examine the current cases and approvals of RoN in the country, with particular focus on the future of the movement and the potential for a constitutional amendment to codify the recognition of Nature’s rights in the country.
The 2002 Diné Fundamental Laws: The First Known Legal Codification of the Rights of Nature
The 2002 Diné Fundamental Laws is the first known codification of the Rights of Nature in a legal context. The Fundamental Laws outlines different rights and laws of the Navajo Nation and its people. It codifies the Diné Life Way. Diné, translating to “The People,” is the traditional name the Navajo people use to identify themselves. The Fundamental Laws addresses a myriad of priorities of the Navajo People and turns ancient, unwritten Navajo philosophy and laws into a more recognized form of law (at least a recognized form by Western standards). The Fundamental Laws also mentions different types of laws: natural law, customary law, common law, and traditional law.
“We need fierce hope and fierce love”: Earth Law Center Interviews Astrid Puentes Riaño, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment
Using international law obligations for this work and for the defense of the environment and human rights is a big opportunity, and it has systematically helped in a lot of situations. I've seen not only Indigenous Peoples and communities but also governments using international law to strengthen their arguments to be able to advance the control, monitoring, and protection of the environment.
Safeguarding Native Stingless Bees: Protectors of Amazonian Biodiversity
Safeguarding Amazonian Stingless Bees is an internationally recognized ongoing project. Begun in Peru in 2023, it is led by Amazon Research Internacional (ARI) working collaboratively with the Earth Law Center (ELC), Instituto de Investigaciones de la Amazonía Peruana (IIAP), Reserva Comunal EcoAsháninka, and the Kukama-Kukamiria Indigenous communities of Loreto. The project integrates scientific, traditional, and legal knowledge and includes adopting a Declaration of Rights for Native Stingless Bees, collecting data to help create technical standards and regulations to support stingless beekeeping, mapping an initial 150,000 hectares of the Amazon, and recognizing the crucial role of Indigenous Peoples' traditional knowledge in enhancing our understanding of stingless bee populations.
In a European First, Landmark Verdict Upholds Constitutionality of Mar Menor’s Legal Rights
On November 20, 2024, Spain’s Constitutional Court issued a pivotal ruling upholding the constitutionality of Law 19/2022, which grants legal personhood to the Mar Menor lagoon and its surrounding basin. This decision—the first in the European Union to establish Rights of Nature at the constitutional level—is a historic milestone for Earth law in Europe.