Abstract
This chapter focuses on the processes of recognition of the Rights of Nature that have taken place in recent years, emphasizing the Latin American case. It is argued that this recognition can enrich socio-legal and ethical debates and thus enhance the defence of the natural world. The chapter examines the extent to which the rights of nature are recognised in some Latin American countries and the degree to which these ideas have circulated into the international regulatory space. It also argues that the Anthropocene presents a new opportunity for real and integrative collaboration among natural and social sciences and the humanities as well as the different types of knowledge and worldviews existing in our world, especially those of Indigenous Peoples. Finally, it argues that it is possible to consider a slow process of democratization of environmental law that implies several challenges for socio-legal research.
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Notes
- 1.
The United Nations initiative called “Harmony with Nature” provides a compilation of the various laws, declarations, and judicial decisions around the world where this perspective is gaining pace. Available in: http://harmonywithnatureun.org/rightsOfNature/.
- 2.
A draft of this proposal, supported by a number of organizations and citizens from different European countries that are trying to achieve to an European Citizens' Initiative is available in: https://natures-rights.org/ECI-DraftDirective-Draft.pdf.
- 3.
Draft available in: http://www.rightsofmotherearth.com/.
- 4.
Noam Chomsky, for example, has recently afirmmed that “the Indigenous people are saving the planet from an environmental disaster” (see http://ecoosfera.com/2017/03/noam-chomsky-activismo-ambiental-indigena-latinoamericano-video/). In a similar sense, UN Special Rapporteur Victoria Tauli-Corpuz argues that Indigeneous people are the best guardians of world's biodiversity in the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples conmemoration (see https://www.theguardian.com/environment/andes-to-the-amazon/2017/aug/09/indigenous-peoples-are-the-best-guardians-of-the-worlds-biodiversity).
- 5.
United Nations General Assembly Resolutions: No. 64/196 of 2009, No. 65/164 of 2010, No. 66/204 of 2011, No. 67/214 of 2012, No. 68/216 of 2013, No. 69/224 of 2014, No. 70/208 of 2015, No. 71/232 of 2016, No. 72/223 of 2017, No. 73/235 of 2018.
- 6.
In relation to the different perspectives on Descola and culture, Philippe Descola provides a rich discussion which argues for a need to move beyond the nature/culture dichotomy and to identify and turn visible the present diversity in our world. Descola, P. Beyond nature and culture, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2013.
- 7.
Translation from Constitution Project.
- 8.
Article 7, Mother Earth Rights Act, Bolivia, 2010.
- 9.
Article 3, Mother Earth Rights Act, Bolivia, 2010.
- 10.
The new Constitution of Mexico City, entered into force on September 2018, adopted the rights of nature in its Article 13 and the 2014 Constitution of the State of Guerrero, amended on 30 June 2014, recognized these rigths in its article 2.
- 11.
To follow the status of the project you can check the website of the national senate: http://www.senado.gov.ar/parlamentario/parlamentaria/365901/downloadPdf.
- 12.
Centro de Estudios para la Justicia Social “Tierra Digna” en representación del Consejo Comunitario Mayor de la Organización Popular Campesina del Alto Atrato (Cocomopoca), el Consejo Comunitario Mayor de la Asociación Campesina Integral del Atrato (Cocomacia), la Asociación de Consejos Comunitarios del Bajo Atrato (Asocoba), el Foro Inter-étnico Solidaridad Chocó (FISCH) y otros, contra la Presidencia de la República, el Ministerio de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sostenible y otros s/ acción de tutela, Constitutional Court of Colombia, 10 November 2016.
- 13.
STC 544385/2017, Sala de Casación Civil, Supreme Court of Colombia.
- 14.
STC 4360/2018, Sala de Casación Civil, Supreme Court of Colombia.
- 15.
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights complete document available in: http://www.corteidh.or.cr/index.php/en/component/content/article/16-juris/398-advisory-opinions.
- 16.
Article 25, Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador, 2008. Translation from Constitution Project.
- 17.
Article 4.17, Framework Act on Mother Earth and Holistic Development for Live Well, 2012.
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Berros, M.V. (2019). Rights of Nature in the Anthropocene: Towards the Democratization of Environmental Law?. In: Lim, M. (eds) Charting Environmental Law Futures in the Anthropocene. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-9065-4_2
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