Rights for the Housatonic

Resources

Some relevant videos and links:

The Rights of Nature

Timeline – Key Moments

In 2006, Tamaqua Borough, Pennsylvania, in the U.S., banned the dumping of toxic sewage sludge as a violation of the Rights of Nature. Tamaqua is the very first place in the world to recognize the Rights of Nature in law. Since 2006, dozens of communities in ten states in the U.S. have enacted Rights of Nature laws.
In 2008, Ecuador became the first country in the world to recognize the Rights of Nature in its national constitution. In 2011, the first Rights of Nature court decision was issued in the Vilcabamba River case in Ecuador, upholding the Rights of Nature constitutional provisions.
In 2010, Bolivia held the World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth, where the Universal Declaration on the Rights of Mother Earth was issued. It has been submitted to the U.N. for consideration.
In 2010, the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature was formed. In 2014, the Global Alliance sponsored the first Rights of Nature Tribunal in Ecuador. Subsequent tribunals have now been held, including in Bonn in 2017.
In 2010, Bolivia’s Legislative Assembly passed the Law of the Rights of Mother Earth.
In 2011, a campaign was launched in Nepal to advance the Rights of Nature. Today, Members of Parliament are considering a Rights of Nature constitutional amendment.
In 2012, a campaign was launched in India to recognize rights of the Ganga River through national legislation. The campaign slogan is “Ganga’s Rights are Our Rights.”
In 2012, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) adopted a policy to incorporate the Rights of Nature in its decision-making processes.
In 2013, the campaign for the European Citizen’s Initiative for the Rights of Nature was launched. The initiative process allows citizens to present proposals to the European Union government for consideration.
In 2014, the first state constitutional amendment to include Rights of Nature was proposed in Colorado, in the U.S. Efforts are now advancing in Ohio, Oregon, New Hampshire, and other states.
In 2014, the New Zealand Parliament passed the Te Urewera Act, finalizing a settlement between the Tūhoe people and the government. The Act recognizes the Te Urewera – a former national park – as having “legal recognition in its own right.”
In 2015, Sweden’s Riksdag considered a motion to create a commission to prepare a proposal on how the Rights of Nature can be incorporated into Swedish law.
In 2015, Pope Francis, in calling for a new era of environmental protection, declared, “A true ‘right of the environment’ does exist…”
In 2016, the Green Party of England and Wales adopted a Rights of Nature policy platform. The Greens in Scotland have taken similar steps.
In 2016, the Ho-Chunk Nation took a first vote for a Rights of Nature tribal constitutional amendment, the first tribal nation in the U.S. to do so.
In 2016, Colombia’s Constitutional Court ruled that the Rio Atrato possesses rights to “protection, conservation, maintenance, and restoration,” and established joint guardianship for the river shared by indigenous people and the national government.
In 2017, Mexico City incorporated language into the city constitution which requires a law to be passed which would “recognize and regulate the broader protection of the rights of nature formed by all its ecosystems and species as a collective entity subject to rights.”
In 2017, the New Zealand Parliament finalized the Te Awa Tupua Act, granting the Whanganui River legal status as an ecosystem.
In 2017, the High Court of Uttarakhand in India issued rulings recognizing the Ganga and Yamuna Rivers, glaciers, and other ecosystems as legal persons with certain rights.
In 2017, Lafayette, Colorado, in the U.S., enacted the first Climate Bill of Rights, recognizing rights of humans and nature to a healthy climate, and banning fossil fuel extraction as a violation of those rights.
In 2017, Colorado River v. State of Colorado was filed in U.S. federal court. In this first-in-the-nation lawsuit, an ecosystem sought recognition of its legal rights.
In 2017, the international Rights of Nature Symposium was held at Tulane Law School in the U.S. The Rights of Nature Principles – outlining the central elements of Rights of Nature laws – were issued from the Symposium.
In 2017, the Municipality of Bonito, in the State of Pernambuco in Brazil, enacted a rights of nature law, securing rights to “exist, thrive, and evolve.”
In 2018, the Ponca Nation of Oklahoma, in the U.S., adopted a customary law on the rights of nature.
In 2018, the Colombian Supreme Court recognized the Amazon as a "subject of rights."
In 2018, in Colombia, the Administrative Court of Boyacá recognized the Páramo in Pisba, a high Andean ecosystem facing significant mining, as a “subject of rights.”
In 2018, the Municipality of Paudalho, in the State of Pernambuco in Brazil, enacted a rights of nature law.
In 2018, the High Court of Uttarakhand in India recognized rights of the “entire animal kingdom.”
In 2018, the White Earth band of the Chippewa Nation adopted the Rights of the Manoomin securing legal rights of manoomin, or wild rice, a traditional staple crop of the Anishinaabe people. This is the first law to secure legal rights of a particular plant species. Rights of Manoomin was also adopted by the 1855 Treaty Authority.
In 2019, the National Lawyers Guild in the U.S. amended the organization’s constitution to include the rights of nature, stating “human rights and the rights of ecosystems shall be regarded as more sacred than property interests...."
In 2019, Uganda enacted the National Environmental Act of 2019 in which nature is recognized as having “the right to exist, persist, maintain and regenerate its vital cycles, structure, functions and its processes in evolution.”
In 2019, the Lake Erie Bill of Rights was approved by the residents of Toledo, Ohio, after they were prevented from voting on the measure in 2018 by the Ohio Supreme Court. It is the first law in the U.S. to secure legal rights of an ecosystem.
In 2019, residents of Exeter, New Hampshire, in the U.S., enacted a law securing the rights of nature, including the right to “a stable and healthy climate system.”
In 2019, residents of Nottingham, New Hampshire, in the U.S., enacted a law securing the rights of nature, including the right to be free from “chemical trespass.”
In 2019, the High Court in Bangladesh recognized legal rights of rivers.
In 2019, the Yurok tribe in the U.S. recognized legal rights of the Klamath River.
In 2019, the Punjab and Haryana High Court in India issued a decision declaring that all animals are legal persons.
In 2019, in Colombia, the Plata River was recognized as a “subject of rights.”
In 2019, in Colima, Mexico, the rights of nature was recognized in the state constitution.
In 2019, a proposed rights of nature constitutional amendment was introduced in Sweden’s parliament, the Riksdag.
In 2019, rights of nature legislation was introduced in the Senate in the Philippines.
In 2019, the Florida Democratic Party adopted the rights of nature in its party platform, the first state political party in the U.S. to take this action.
In 2019, in Colombia, the First Criminal Court in Neiva-Huila, recognized the Magdalena River, including the river’s basin and tributaries, as possessing rights to “protection, conservation, maintenance, and restoration.”
In 2019, the first rights of nature legislation was introduced in Australia, in the Western Australia Parliament. It would secure rights of nature, future generations, and First Nations.
In 2019, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines issued a Pastoral Letter calling for the recognition of the rights of nature, writing “recognition of the Rights of Nature is at the core of the call for ecological conversion.”
In 2019, the Church of Sweden announced its inclusion of the rights of nature in its educational programs.
In 2020, the Alliance for the Sacred Sites of Earth Gaia (ASSEGAIA) released the Declaration for the Protection of Sacred Natural Sites, calling for sacred natural sites to be protected with rights of nature laws.
In 2020, the Menominee Tribe of Wisconsin adopted its Recognition of the Rights of the Menominee River resolution.

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Resources

Some relevant videos and links:

The Rights of Nature

Timeline – Key Moments

In 2008, Ecuador became the first country in the world to recognize the Rights of Nature in its national constitution. In 2011, the first Rights of Nature court decision was issued in the Vilcabamba River case in Ecuador, upholding the Rights of Nature constitutional provisions.

In 2010, Bolivia held the World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth, where the Universal Declaration on the Rights of Mother Earth was issued. It has been submitted to the U.N. for consideration.

In 2010, the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature was formed. In 2014, the Global Alliance sponsored the first Rights of Nature Tribunal in Ecuador. Subsequent tribunals have now been held, including in Bonn in 2017.

In 2010, Bolivia’s Legislative Assembly passed the Law of the Rights of Mother Earth.

In 2011, a campaign was launched in Nepal to advance the Rights of Nature. Today, Members of Parliament are considering a Rights of Nature constitutional amendment.

In 2012, a campaign was launched in India to recognize rights of the Ganga River through national legislation. The campaign slogan is “Ganga’s Rights are Our Rights.”

In 2012, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) adopted a policy to incorporate the Rights of Nature in its decision-making processes.

In 2013, the campaign for the European Citizen’s Initiative for the Rights of Nature was launched. The initiative process allows citizens to present proposals to the European Union government for consideration.

In 2014, the first state constitutional amendment to include Rights of Nature was proposed in Colorado, in the U.S. Efforts are now advancing in Ohio, Oregon, New Hampshire, and other states.

In 2014, the New Zealand Parliament passed the Te Urewera Act, finalizing a settlement between the Tūhoe people and the government. The Act recognizes the Te Urewera – a former national park – as having “legal recognition in its own right.”

In 2015, Sweden’s Riksdag considered a motion to create a commission to prepare a proposal on how the Rights of Nature can be incorporated into Swedish law.

In 2015, Pope Francis, in calling for a new era of environmental protection, declared, “A true ‘right of the environment’ does exist…”

In 2016, the Green Party of England and Wales adopted a Rights of Nature policy platform. The Greens in Scotland have taken similar steps.

In 2016, the Ho-Chunk Nation took a first vote for a Rights of Nature tribal constitutional amendment, the first tribal nation in the U.S. to do so.

In 2016, Colombia’s Constitutional Court ruled that the Rio Atrato possesses rights to “protection, conservation, maintenance, and restoration,” and established joint guardianship for the river shared by indigenous people and the national government.

In 2017, Mexico City incorporated language into the city constitution which requires a law to be passed which would “recognize and regulate the broader protection of the rights of nature formed by all its ecosystems and species as a collective entity subject to rights.”

In 2017, the New Zealand Parliament finalized the Te Awa Tupua Act, granting the Whanganui River legal status as an ecosystem.

In 2017, the High Court of Uttarakhand in India issued rulings recognizing the Ganga and Yamuna Rivers, glaciers, and other ecosystems as legal persons with certain rights.

In 2017, Lafayette, Colorado, in the U.S., enacted the first Climate Bill of Rights, recognizing rights of humans and nature to a healthy climate, and banning fossil fuel extraction as a violation of those rights.

In 2017, Colorado River v. State of Colorado was filed in U.S. federal court. In this first-in-the-nation lawsuit, an ecosystem sought recognition of its legal rights.

In 2017, the international Rights of Nature Symposium was held at Tulane Law School in the U.S. The Rights of Nature Principles – outlining the central elements of Rights of Nature laws – were issued from the Symposium.

In 2017, the Municipality of Bonito, in the State of Pernambuco in Brazil, enacted a rights of nature law, securing rights to “exist, thrive, and evolve.”

In 2018, the Ponca Nation of Oklahoma, in the U.S., adopted a customary law on the rights of nature.

In 2018, the Colombian Supreme Court recognized the Amazon as a "subject of rights."

In 2018, in Colombia, the Administrative Court of Boyacá recognized the Páramo in Pisba, a high Andean ecosystem facing significant mining, as a “subject of rights.”

In 2018, the Municipality of Paudalho, in the State of Pernambuco in Brazil, enacted a rights of nature law.

In 2018, the High Court of Uttarakhand in India recognized rights of the “entire animal kingdom.”

In 2019, the National Lawyers Guild in the U.S. amended the organization’s constitution to include the rights of nature, stating “human rights and the rights of ecosystems shall be regarded as more sacred than property interests...."

In 2019, Uganda enacted the National Environmental Act of 2019 in which nature is recognized as having “the right to exist, persist, maintain and regenerate its vital cycles, structure, functions and its processes in evolution.”

In 2019, the Lake Erie Bill of Rights was approved by the residents of Toledo, Ohio, after they were prevented from voting on the measure in 2018 by the Ohio Supreme Court. It is the first law in the U.S. to secure legal rights of an ecosystem.

In 2019, residents of Exeter, New Hampshire, in the U.S., enacted a law securing the rights of nature, including the right to “a stable and healthy climate system.”

In 2019, residents of Nottingham, New Hampshire, in the U.S., enacted a law securing the rights of nature, including the right to be free from “chemical trespass.”

In 2019, the High Court in Bangladesh recognized legal rights of rivers.

In 2019, the Yurok tribe in the U.S. recognized legal rights of the Klamath River.

In 2019, the Punjab and Haryana High Court in India issued a decision declaring that all animals are legal persons.

In 2019, in Colombia, the Plata River was recognized as a “subject of rights.”

In 2019, in Colima, Mexico, the rights of nature was recognized in the state constitution.

In 2019, a proposed rights of nature constitutional amendment was introduced in Sweden’s parliament, the Riksdag.

In 2019, rights of nature legislation was introduced in the Senate in the Philippines.

In 2019, the Florida Democratic Party adopted the rights of nature in its party platform, the first state political party in the U.S. to take this action.

In 2019, in Colombia, the First Criminal Court in Neiva-Huila, recognized the Magdalena River, including the river’s basin and tributaries, as possessing rights to “protection, conservation, maintenance, and restoration.”

In 2019, the first rights of nature legislation was introduced in Australia, in the Western Australia Parliament. It would secure rights of nature, future generations, and First Nations.

In 2019, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines issued a Pastoral Letter calling for the recognition of the rights of nature, writing “recognition of the Rights of Nature is at the core of the call for ecological conversion.”

In 2019, the Church of Sweden announced its inclusion of the rights of nature in its educational programs.

In 2020, the Alliance for the Sacred Sites of Earth Gaia (ASSEGAIA) released the Declaration for the Protection of Sacred Natural Sites, calling for sacred natural sites to be protected with rights of nature laws.

In 2020, the Menominee Tribe of Wisconsin adopted its Recognition of the Rights of the Menominee River resolution.