International Law & the United Nations

United Nations

Because environmental challenges span the globe, ELC focuses significant advocacy efforts at the UN-level, seeking laws and policies that allow people and Nature to flourish together.

We are working with partners Rights of Mother Earth and the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature to help gain 1 million signatures to urge the UN to formally adopt the Universal Declaration on the Rights of Mother Earth (UDRME), which recognizes the human responsibility to protect Nature. You can sign the petition here. 

Other United Nations Advocacy

• ELC, Rights of Mother Earth, Rights of Nature Sweden, Earth Advocacy Youth, Towards the Adoption of a Rights-Based Approach: Incorporating the Rights of Nature into the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework of the CBD (2020).

• ELC, Submission to the UN Non-Governmental Liaison Service et al. on the Report of the Secretary-General on the Post-2015 Sustainable Development Agenda (Jan. 9, 2015)

• ELC, Submission to the UN Development Programme on Rule of Law and the Post-2015 Development Agenda (Aug. 29, 2013)

• ELC, “Caring for Home through Nature’s Rights,” Remarks before the Interactive Dialogue of the General Assembly on Harmony with Nature (April 22, 2013) (with video)

• ELC, "Establishing Earth-based governance for the rights of the environment," in United Nations, Future Perfect (June 2012)

• ELC, Submission to the U.N. Conference on Sustainable Development on Rio +20 (Nov. 2011)

International Union for the Conservation of Nature

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is a global environmental network with more than 16,000 experts and 1,300 member organizations. ELC advocates for the IUCN to adopt and implement Earth law policies and projects.

At the 2012 World Conservation Congress, IUCN members recognized Nature’s rights by passing a resolution that makes the Rights of Nature a key part of the IUCN’s decision-making process.  As a member of the IUCN’s World Commission on Environmental Law, ELC played a key role in getting the IUCN to prioritize its Rights of Nature. Because of ELC’s work, IUCN’s 2017-2020 program included commitments to the Rights of Nature.

Earth Law Center partnered with the Ecological Law and Governance Association, the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law, the Center for Environmental Ethics and Law, the Australian Earth Law Alliance, and Economics for the Anthropocene (a project of McGill University and Vermont Law) to host an annual series of courses by experts - practitioners and academics - in ecological law and governance. The webinar series launched in 2019 and included 10 webinars and trainings.