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Earth Law Monthly Update
February 2023

This month, we highlight Ocean rights advocacy, the UN 2023 Water Conference, the Rights of Southern Resident Orcas, upcoming educational opportunities for our readers, and progress towards ecocentric corporate governance. 2023 is just getting underway, but the Earth Law Center (ELC) team is as busy as ever advancing Earth-centered laws across the U.S. and worldwide. Thank you for joining us!

-Earth Law Center Team

ELC Sends Delegation to UN 2023 Water Conference

Co-hosted by Tajikistan and the Netherlands, the UN 2023 Water Conference – formally known as the 2023 Conference for the Midterm Comprehensive Review of Implementation of the UN Decade for Action on Water and Sanitation (2018-2028) – will take place at the UN Headquarters in New York during March 22-24, 2023. ELC received special accreditation to send a delegation of ten representatives to the conference this year.

ELC is working with partners such as the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the Global Alliance of Rights of Nature (GARN), the World Youth Parliament for Water, International Rivers (IR), Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN), the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN), and the International Association for Water Law (AIDA), among others, to amplify the Rights of Water during the conference. You can learn more about the conference and pledge your own commitment to protect Water here. 

In addition to sending several staff members, ELC will be represented at the conference by Solène Crawley, an Earth Law Clerk at ELC and student at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. Solène will build support for the Rights of Nature and help develop new partnerships for ELC.

Want to do more to support Water? Let us know how you would like us to amplify the voice of Water during the conference by sharing your ideas here. 

EARTH LAW MOVEMENT BUILDING

International Momentum towards Ocean Rights Continues to Build

Here are three updates on international progress towards 'Ocean rights'. Stay tuned for more developments!

1) Roundtable on Universal Declaration of Ocean Rights

ELC and the Permanent Missions of Cabo Verde and Monaco, alongside The Ocean Race and our expert partner Isabella Lovin, former Minister of the Environment in Sweden, hosted a roundtable on the Universal Declaration of Ocean Rights (UDOR) with the Group of Friends of Oceans and Seas in New York. (The GoFOS was started in 2015 on the initiative of Fiji and is made up of UN Ambassadors dedicated to ensuring the well-being of oceans and seas. Today, it gathers the ambassadors of circa 40 member states.) We are excited to continue working with governments and all other stakeholders to advance the initiative toward a Universal Declaration of Ocean Rights, or a similar outcome, by 2030. 

2) Ocean Race Summit

Prior to our New York roundtable, The Ocean Race Summit was held in Cabo Verde and resulted in an outcome declaration urging action on Ocean Rights and highlighting the leadership of Cabo Verde in the UDOR campaign. You can view the highlight video of the Mindelo Summit here.

3) IMPAC5

We also held a side event alongside IMPAC5 (International Marine Protected Area Conference) in Vancouver, where Ocean Rights were featured in over five side events. ELC and The Ocean Race held our fourth workshop in the Genoa Process to gain stakeholder feedback and build partnerships for international recognition of the Rights of the Ocean. This workshop’s goal was to create an ethical and inclusive space to learn and listen from a global audience, with a focus on Indigenous and Oceanic communities, who already view the Ocean as a living being to whom we have responsibilities. We received incredible feedback and constructive criticism and are working hard to integrate this within our strategic processes.

EARTH LAW IN PRACTICE

Rights of Nature Grows in the Pacific Northwest - Orcas, Salmon, and More

Since December 2022, four cities (Port Townsend, Gig Harbor, Langley, and Bainbridge) and two counties (Jefferson County and San Juan County) in Washington State have passed proclamations recognizing the inherent rights of the Orcas. You can view all the proclamations here. These efforts stem from the legal template ELC created and the tremendous advocacy of partner Kriss Kervorkian of Legal Rights for the Salish Sea, amongst many others. Though the language varies according to each community’s diverse values and views, the overarching goals and underlying philosophy remain the same.

More cities and counties are also considering proclamations, and we will continue to provide updates as they come in! These local actions are creating the momentum needed to call for immediate state-level action to address the main threats to the survival of Ocras. Local organizing and resolutions/proclamations have proven powerful tools to gain state and federal action in the United States, and we hope that 2024 is the year for a standalone state bill or comparable proclamation in Washington’s legislative session.

You can read these media mentions for more information:

• Inside Climate News
• King5 Seattle
• Seattle Times

EARTH LAW PARTNERSHIPS

ELC and Partners Launch New Program to Empower Indigenous Rivers Protector in Latin America

In November 2022, ELC, in partnership with Defensa Ambiental, International Rivers, Instituto Defensa Legal, ECLAC, and the Embassy of France in Chile,  launched a training program on access to information, access to public participation, and access to justice for Indigenous women river defenders.

The 24-month program will be implemented in two locations: Chile (with the Malen Leubü community, protectors of the Biobío River) and Peru (with the Huaynakana Kamatahuara Kana, protectors of the Marañón River). The program will empower river defenders to apply the legal tool offered by the Escazú Agreement to defend the rights of rivers and local communities.  

EARTH LAW PANEL

Nature on the Board & Ecocentric Corporate Governance in Davos

Last month, ELC spoke on a panel hosted by Hub Culture in Davos, Switzerland, called "Giving nature a seat at the table." Alexandra Pimor represented ELC at the panel as part of her work to give Nature a voice within companies and other forums. The audience and co-panelists were extremely receptive to the concept of creating new governance structures that give ecosystems and species a voice. 

ELC advises businesses on how to lead the transition to an Earth-centered society through which humans—and the companies we create—act as stewards of the larger community of life. In 2022, ELC participated in a novel undertaking, co-developing a ‘board seat for Nature’ for London-based natural products company Faith in Nature alongside UK-based organization Lawyers for Nature; pro bono attorneys from Shearman & Sterling; and various advisors, including Voice for Nature and others.

EARTH LAW EDUCATION

Join the ELC Book Club

ELC welcomes interested readers to our 2023 Book Club. At the first club meeting, on March 21, 2023, Tony Zelle will present an Introduction to Earth Law, an overview of the ELC’s seminal work Earth Law: Emerging Ecocentric Law - A Guide for Practitioners. Following the 30-minute introduction, participants will have the opportunity to engage in a dynamic discussion along with other editors, authors, and alumni of the past two years’ summer Earth Law Class. The club meeting will be recorded and, after editing, it will become the first module of the ELC education online library. 

The first meeting is taking place on March 21, 10 a.m. Pacific (1 p.m. Eastern, 6pm GMT). Meetings are once per month. Reading materials provided.

INTERNATIONAL EARTH LAW

Advancing Rights of Nature and Earth Law in the Escazú Agreement

ELC's Javier Ruiz is participating in various activities leading up to the second Conference of the Parties (COP) of the Escazú Agreement, being held April 19-21, 2023 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. This regional treaty throughout Latin America and the Caribbean guarantees the public’s right to access environmental information, participate in environmental decision-making, and seek justice in environmental matters.

ELC recently participated in the working group on access to justice in the first forum of human rights defenders for environmental issues in Latin America and the Caribbean, organized by ECLAC. ELC is also participating in a meeting convened by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mexico to ensure the robust involvement of stakeholders within the Escazú Agreement. Broadly speaking, ELC is working to give Nature and future generations a voice within the Escazú Agreement because these "voiceless" entities should be treated as part of the public.

To learn more, read ECLAC's implementation guide for the Escazu Agreement.

EARTH LAW EDUCATION

Exeter University in England is hosting ELC Education faculty members Dr. Kelsey Leonard, Alexandra Pimor, and Anthony Zelle to present a lecture and workshop. On March 10, 2023, on the Peryn Campus in Cornwall, U.K., Dr. Leonard will present a lecture focused on emerging trends in Earth Law. She will explore initiatives led by communities and governments to advance ecocentric legal and governance systems. 

Following the lecture, Ms. Pimor and Mr. Zelle will lead a workshop introducing ELC's Nature in the Boardroom Campaign, an initiative to develop structures and processes for corporate officers, directors, and executives to bring the voice of Nature into their strategic and financial decision-making.

Sign up here to join the talk!

EARTH LAW MOVEMENT BUILDING

Eco Jurisprudence Monitor Features the Rights of Water

Earth Law is a global movement that includes legal changes through constitutional amendments, court decisions, local ordinances, Indigenous law, and other activities for legal reform. ELC's Water Program Director, in collaboration with the GARN Academic Hub and others, worked to develop a global monitor to track the many initiatives of eco-jurisprudence that have been created in recent history and will be spearheaded in the future. The Eco Jurisprudence Monitor launched in October 2022 as a publicly accessible website that is continuously updated with new initiatives.

As stated through the Eco Jurisprudence Monitor’s opening statement, working to transform legal systems globally is a task any individual or collective can work toward, and the first step involves building our understanding of existing innovations already happening around the world. You can search for initiatives based on ecological actors such as Water. 

EARTH LAW IN PRACTICE

The Earth Law Center at  the  RISE World Summit

Constanza Prieto Figelist, ELC's Latin American Legal Director, was invited to participate as a speaker at the “Rights of Nature and People Roundtable" at the RISE World Summit organized by the Echo Network.

On February 1, Constanza joined a multidisciplinary panel with prominent professionals such as Abhayraj Naik (environmental lawyer), Craig Kauffman (political scientist), Maureen Penjueli (Indigenous community leader), and Sivakumar Ananthasubramanian (industry expert).

The panel debated the importance of recognizing the plurality of the different models of recognition of the Rights of Nature in various legal and cultural contexts, the great challenge that their implementation represents, and the need to include all sectors of society in this broad paradigm shift.

EARTH LAW ADVOCACY

Protecting Legacy Forests in the Pacific Northwest

On December 10, ELC’s Director of Legal Advocacy, Elizabeth Dunne, spoke at the Center for Responsible Forestry's Legacy Forest Summit. Participants in the Summit discussed ways to protect the last remaining ~80,000 acres of mature, structurally complex forests threatened by logging on Washington State land. These Forests are essential for climate mitigation, biodiversity preservation, and human health and well-being.

EARTH LAW PARTNERS

Check out the new album from the Blue Mountain Tribe, "Oh Great Warrior" (direct link here). These tunes have been playing regularly in the ELC office in Durango, Colorado, inspiring us to defend the planet and its protectors! The members of the band are fed up with the destruction and abuse of Nature, they told ELC, and their new song Pray for Our Planet tells their story.

Here is more on Blue Mountain Tribe: 

Back in the mid-2000s in Tehachapi, California, father and son duo Robin and Caleb Hairston set out to create an all-Native American blues and rock band—and that’s exactly what they did. As a “band of brothers,” the Blue Mountain Tribe began creating original songs focused on Native American experiences, and they instantly became a hit.

Since its formation, the band has received numerous accolades. The song “Pray for Our Planet” alone has earned significant global achievements. Written in the wake of COVID-19 after the highly-respected Chief Arvol Looking Horse asked Blue Mountain Tribe to pray for healing, the song has won Best Music Video at the INDO French International Film Festival, the Latino and Native American Film Festival, and the Las Vegas Film Festival.

Blue Mountain Tribe continues to produce award-winning music, but their mission isn’t about garnering wealth and fame. It’s all about raising awareness, helping others, and making the world a better place. Conveying themes of inspiration and love but also pain and rage, the band’s songs represent not just each member’s own Indigenous heritage but all 500+ original Nations.