Dear Friends:

2021 has been a hugely successful year for Earth Law Center (ELC) and our many incredible partners. A special thanks to our dozens of volunteers and interns, who allow us to carry out a workload many times greater than our budget would indicate. We are also extremely grateful to our donors. Even giving a few dollars per month makes a huge difference.

Although we are beginning to win in practice—helping to write and enforce a new generation of Earth-centered (or "ecocentric") laws and training students and professionals to join us—the health of Nature continues to suffer. We must urgently transform legal and economic systems so they work for Nature instead of against it. Please join us by supporting ELC and other groups defending the planet.

Sincerely,

Earth Law Center Team

ELC helped carry out over fifty campaigns this year. While we can't include them all (see the next section of the newsletter for larger trends), here are some highlights:

In the Courts

• Filed numerous amicus briefs and gave testimony on the Rights of Nature and environmental rights in Ecuador, then saw two victories before the Constitutional Court in cases on Los Cedros Protected Forest (safeguarding the forest from mining) and mangroves (declaring unconstitutional some legal provisions that promote monocultures). Congrats to our partners and these ecosystems!

• Co-drafted a legal action advocating for the rights of the Marañón River and the rights of the Kukama community in Peru (with International Rivers and Instituto de Defensa Legal) in order to stop ongoing petroleum discharges, based in part on the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Rivers.

• Submitted pending amicus briefs advocating for the Rights of Nature for the Nangaritza River (Ecuador), the Intag Ecosystem (Ecuador), and the Marañón River (Peru), in addition to receiving favorable outcomes related to three other amicus briefs.

• Wrote or contributed to four amicus briefs in US cases advancing Earth law concepts, including an amicus brief submitted to the Washington State Supreme Court arguing that the state must interpret its constitution in light of the climate crisis and also manage forest lands for all the people.

Passing Earth-Centered Laws

• Secured a constitutional amendment recognizing the Rights of Nature in the Constitution of Oaxaca, Mexico, with Congressman Fredie Delfin and Litigio Estratégico Indígena. Also contributed to a follow-up bill for the defense of the rights of rivers and other water sources that is under consideration.

• The Congress of the State of Mexico submitted a proposal to amend the Mexican Constitution to recognize Mother Earth as a rights-bearing entity at the federal level, in addition to embracing ecocentrism. ELC has long engaged in advocacy in the State of Mexico on this topic.

• Provided expertise and language for a national Rights of Nature law in the Republic of Panama (awaiting President's signature), and drafted amendments to a sea turtle conservation law in Panama.

• Participated in the Constitutional process in Chile with Defensa Ambiental and others, filing a proposal for the recognition of Rights of Nature.

International Law

• Co-led a coalition seeking support of the Rights of Nature in the Convention on Biological Diversity, with 200+ endorsements of our recommendations & report. (With Rights of Mother Earth, Rights of Nature Sweden, Earth Advocacy Youth, & International Observatory for Nature's Rights.)

• Co-wrote a submission under the Bern Convention to oppose a destructive mining project in Serbia and support Nature’s rights (with Earth Thrive and Protect Jadar & Radjevina).

• Presented on ecocide and Rights of Nature violations in the Balkans arising from an onslaught of small hydro as part of a European Tribunal on the Rights of Nature (with Earth Thrive, Riverwatch, & others).

Building Legal Norms

• Submitted seven comment letters to advance Ocean Rights, including in Washington State; California; nationally in the United States and Panama; and internationally through the High Seas Biodiversity Treaty (BBNJ treaty), the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the IUCN.

• Launched an 'Indigenous Earth Law' project that compiles and analyzes case studies from across North America and beyond and offers guidance on emerging ecocentric legal developments.

• Submitted comment letters and gave testimony to the Nigerian National Assembly and Delta State House of Assembly urging their adoption of the rights of rivers and the rights of future generations.  

• Introduced a project to support the development of innovative land stewardship models on non-public lands, working with land partners across the U.S.  

Legal Representation

• Continued to represent Lummi elders in their quest to return Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut (also known as Tokitae), a captive orca, from the Miami Seaquarium to the Salish Sea after 50 years of captivity.

• A First Nation in Canada retained ELC as part of a legal advisory group to advise on the implementation of Rights of Nature frameworks, including legal guardianship of Nature.

Movement Building and Advocacy

• Myra Jackson of ELC co-organized the Global Freshwaters Summit, which explored how the Great Mississippi & Missouri Confluence of Rivers is crucial to the Earth’s resilience and regenerative powers.

• Formalized partnerships with Save the American Salmon to work with Tribal Nations in advancing Rights of Nature frameworks, and with Voice for Nature to support grassroots Rights of Nature leaders worldwide, in addition to formalizing many other partnerships and coalitions.

• In partnership with The Ocean Race and Nature’s Rights, 'Ocean Rights' will be one focus of The Ocean Race Summits through 2023. The Ocean Race platform reaches over 1 million people on Facebook alone (see the promotional video and Europe Summit report).

• Joined a new campaign to protect legacy forests on Washington State lands and submitted comments in opposition to timber sales, including within old-growth forests.

Local Rights of Nature

• Helped write two Rights of Nature resolutions in Colorado (Nederland and Ridgway) with partner Save the Colorado. Also supported local campaigns in Hawai'i, Utah, Washington, and elsewhere.

• Crestone, Colorado, became "the world’s first International Dark Sky Community to acknowledge the Rights of Nature." ELC has advised Crestone on the Rights of Nature for several years.

Training Practitioners

• Taught a summer pilot course based on the coursebook Earth Law: Emerging Ecocentric Law—A Guide for Practitioners (Wolters Kluwer, 2021), with 40+ students and 12+ guest lecturers. All students made a 40-year commitment to the development of Earth law.

• Launched an online resource for lawyers to earn CLE credits by learning about Earth law, including the Rights of Nature.

• Completed a six-week clinic in Mexico, entitled "Strategic Litigation for the Rights of Nature,” with over 150 participants.

• Co-created a workshop on youth and the Rights of Nature at the IUCN’s Global Youth Summit with the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature Youth Hub. Over 200 youth created a collaborative declaration, available in six languages and featured in the Summit’s outcome declaration.

Here are a few of ELC's overarching metrics from 2021 alone:

• Informed bills and introduced reports in eight different legislative processes (in Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, and Peru).

• Submitted six amicus briefs (with some successful outcomes!) with several more nearing completion.

• Drafted one state resolution on the Rights of Nature (pending) and met with lawmakers in two states. 

• Developed three legal templates on the Rights of Nature and rights of future generations to kick off ELC's new 'Earth Legislator' project. 

• Drafted and submitted over ten advocacy letters on Earth-centered law and policy.

• Made seven submissions to international treaty bodies on the Rights of Nature and other ecocentric law movements.

• Facilitated or participated in 25+ events, including two Washington State Legislative Roundtables on the Rights of Nature and the Rights of the Southern Resident Orcas, the IUCN’s Global Youth Summit and World Conservation Congress, two Ocean Race Summits, a panel on Earth Law in Canada, a summit on impact assessments, an international Invisible Hand screening, and the NY Times Climate Hub and Nature Bar organized by Voice for Nature alongside COP26 in Glasgow. Through these events, ELC collectively reached over 20k diverse stakeholders live from across the globe.

• The 'Earth Law' coursebook is being taught in two law schools and three undergraduate programs with 5+ more schools in the pipeline. The first run sold out and a second print will soon hit the press.

• Collaborated with two companies working to incorporate ecocentrism into their corporate governance structures. 

• Hosted 15+ law students and 60+ other interns and volunteers from 15+ countries.

• Featured in over 30 media outlets, including The Guardian, Audible, Denver Post, and many more!

In 2022, we will continue to expand our work. That means more landmark court decisions, increased advocacy within international treaty bodies, and new ecocentric laws at all levels of government. We will also focus on enforcing those transformative laws already on the books.

ELC will continue to expand our work beyond the Rights of Nature by providing expertise on the full gamut of "Earth law" movements—the rights of future generations, legal guardianship of Nature, human environmental rights, defining ecocide as a crime, ecocentric corporate governance, and even paradigms that fall outside of traditional Western law, amongst others. 

Finally, we will continue to educate and train a new generation of leaders, teachers, and practitioners. This means getting the Earth Law coursebook in at least 10 more schools in 2022 and launching an ambassador program so anyone can engage in advocacy on behalf of ELC. 

We hope that you will join us!

Meet the team and learn about 2022 plans in ELC's new video!

Contact Us

Earth Law Center
PO Box 3164
Boulder, Colorado 80307
510-566-1063
info@earthlaw.org

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