| | Earth Law Monthly Update
November 2022 | | This month, we highlight advocacy at the international climate and biodiversity conferences, Earth-centered governance for Ocean and Forests, and the Rights of the Great Salt Lake. As the year quickly comes to an end, please consider making a donation to Earth Law Center to help us fulfill the increasing demand for Earth law expertise from governments, communities, and businesses across the world. Thank you, as always! -Earth Law Center Team | | | | | | | | Campaign towards Rights of Mother Earth in the Convention on Biological Diversity Earth Law Center (ELC) is sending a delegation to the upcoming UN Biodiversity Conference, COP15, in Montreal in December 2022! We will join our many partners who have worked with ELC for over two years to advance the Rights of Mother Earth and other ecocentric legal paradigms within the global biodiversity treaty, called the Convention on Biological Diversity. Negotiators hope to finalize an ambitious plan on how to implement the biodiversity treaty for the next decade. | | | | | |  | | | EARTH LAW MOVEMENT BUILDING | | ELC is working with coalitions both in Washington State and nationally to protect mature, naturally regenerated (“legacy”), and old-growth forests on public lands. In Western Washington, about 80,000 acres of state forest lands are legacy forests (i.e., not monocrop plantations) under threat of logging in the next 10 years. On Oct. 23, ELC's Elizabeth Dunne and the Center for Responsible Forestry co-hosted a hike to visit a unique legacy forest in the Elwha River Watershed threatened by logging (aka the “Aldwell” timber sale). (Photos here). Over 45 people joined us, including three Port Angeles City Council members, to deepen their relationship with this Forest, which provides critical habitat and enhances streamflow for both salmon and local residents who depend on Elwha River for drinking water. The Pacific Northwest's high biodiversity forests are essential to mitigate climate change. So, no matter where you live, tell Washington State's Gov. Inslee and the Public Lands Commissioner to protect legacy and old-growth forests! Sign the petition here. If you’d like to get more involved in our work protecting Forests, email Elizabeth Dunne at edunne@earthlaw.org. | | | | | | | | Ocean Rights Featured in New Educational Resource ELC partner The Ocean Race released an engaging, free learning program, designed for learners ages 12+, to introduce young people to the foundational role of the Ocean in sustaining our planet. The program highlights threats to Ocean health, inspires positive action to implement Ocean Rights and other solutions, and provides reflections on current legal systems and the need for holistic Ocean-centered governance. ELC and Nature’s Rights contributed to the program. We encourage you to engage with and share these learning resources! | |  | | | | | New Video on Panama and the Rights of Nature Cherie Bridges with The Ocean Race created this amazing video regarding Rights of Nature in Panama. Thank you to all who were involved! ELC continues to work towards implementation with The Leatherback Project, local partners, and government officials. Take a look here and please share far and wide! | | | | | | Earth Law Center at COP27 in Sharm-el-Sheik, Egypt ELC was active at the climate change conference, COP27, in Egypt this month. Here are details on two panels we participated in. 1) COP 27 Education Hub Presents: Earth Law - An Emerging Ecocentric Paradigm to Address Climate Change [Watch here] Panel Description: Earth law is emerging because modern legal systems do not conform with Earth’s geophysical and biochemical laws. The climate crisis is a result of human systems that legalize pollution, extraction, deforestation and waste. Human systems that encourage these activities for the sake of development, as well as for convenience, are nor sustainable. The panelists will explore the broad contours of Earth law and the opportunities it provides for law students, lawyers, activists, educators, executives, managers, leaders of all sorts, and those who support them. Featuring Earth Law Center, the Center for Ecozoic Studies, Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature, Planting Change Foundation, and Eco Justicia. | |  | | | | Panel Description: Partners The Ocean Race held a side event on Ocean Rights at COP27 in Sharm-el-Sheik, Egypt, that brought together different perspectives on how to give the Ocean the voice it deserves at the global political arena. Attendees included Peter Thomson, UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy for the Ocean; Minna Epps, Ocean Lead, IUCN; Xiye Bastida, Climate Justice Activist and Co-Founder of Re-Earth Initiative; and Myra Jackson, ELC's UN Representative and Focal Point. - Watch the highlights video here and read more here.
| |  | | | | | "Balancing the Biome Summit" Towards Rights of the Great Salt Lake Last month, advocates from across the country met in Salt Lake City to explore how the Rights of Nature movement can help protect, restore, and give a voice to the Great Salt Lake. The organizers, Crude & Humble Bloom (in support of Save Our Great Salt Lake), invited leading thinkers on the Rights of Nature, environmental justice, education, and related fields. ELC's Grant Wilson presented alongside Blake Lavia & Tzintzun Aguilar-Izzo of Talking Wings, providing an overview of the Rights of Nature movement and its possible application for the Great Salt Lake. The Great Salt Lake ecosystem is collapsing before our eyes. The lake has shrunk by about two-thirds since the 1980s, mostly due to diversions from the rivers that feed the lake. As a result, the lake has become much saltier, threatening the existence of brine flies and brine shrimp, the primary food source for 10 million migratory birds that come through the region. The lake bed also contains high levels of arsenic that will turn into toxic dust as it continues to dry up. Immediate, bold action is required to save the Great Salt Lake. | |  | | | | | IUCN Establishes Task Force on the Rights of Nature The International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s World Commission on Environmental Law just announced the creation of a Rights of Nature task force! This is a huge win for Nature, and for ELC, the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature, and partners who have been advocating for the past few years for the IUCN to implement and enforce its Rights of Nature commitments under Resolution 100. We look forward to being a part of this task force and sharing any advancements! | | | | | | Rights of Nature Featured on 8 Billion Podcast Rachel Bustamante of ELC joined Diwigwi Valiente, Indigenous climate activist from the Guna people in Panama, to speak on the Rights of Nature and how to restore our human relationship with Earth. Featured topics include the benefits of the Rights of Nature to human communities and biodiversity as well as examples of implementation. Check out the podcast and share! | |  | | | | | ELC Highlights Rights-Based Protections for Animals at Forum The Legislative Palace of the Chamber of Deputies in Mexico hosted a discussion on different legal protection schemes for nonhuman animals, entitled "Challenges and Opportunities for Animal Welfare Legislation." Javier Ruiz, ELC's Environmental Policy and Climate Change Expert, presented on his experiences as well as the standards of protection that exist in various Latin American jurisdictions, including rights-based approaches. The purpose of the forum was to inform legislators and the public about innovative methods to protect non-human animals. | |  | | | | | ELC is highlighting the work of partners from across the world--check them out and be sure to offer your support! International Indigenous Salmon Seas Symposium Congratulations to our partner Se’Si’Le for the tremendously successful first International Indigenous Salmon Seas Symposium. Se’Si’Le works to restore Indigenous knowledge in environmental restoration efforts. Many participants signed the Salmon Seas Proclamation, which, in part, “call[s] for respect and reciprocity among cultures and communities as we strive to ensure long-term and sustainable co-existence with our Salmon relations that give life to our lands, waters, and lifeways.” Read the full text and watch event recordings here. Life Worlds Podcast Lifeworlds is a podcast series that explores how to orient your life around Nature, hosted by Alexa Firmenich. Two recent episodes explored ecocentric law. - First, Abhayraj Naik, a lawyer and activist-academic, explores the trajectory of the Rights of Nature in India, and how this legal approach differentiates itself from other forms of environmental law [podcast link].
- Second, Dr. John Borrows & Lindsay Borrows discuss Indigenous law and "How [we can] read the archive of the law that is written upon the Earth" [podcast link].
| | | | | | | | ELC's mission is to advance Earth-centered laws and movements for all life on the planet. | | | | | | | | | | Contact Us Earth Law Center
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Boulder, Colorado 80307
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info@earthlaw.org | | | | | | | |
