Natures Rights

 Earth

April 22, 2010
World People’s Conference on Climate Change
and the Rights of Mother Earth
Cochabamba, Bolivia

Printable PDF of Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth

Preamble

We, the peoples and nations of Earth:

considering that we are all part of Mother Earth, an indivisible, living community of interrelated and interdependent beings with a common destiny;

gratefully acknowledging that Mother Earth is the source of life, nourishment and learning and provides everything we need to live well;

recognizing that the capitalist system and all forms of depredation, exploitation, abuse and contamination have caused great destruction, degradation and disruption of Mother Earth, putting life as we know it today at risk through phenomena such as climate change;

convinced that in an interdependent living community it is not possible to recognize the rights of only human beings without causing an imbalance within Mother Earth;

affirming that to guarantee human rights it is necessary to recognize and defend the rights of Mother Earth and all beings in her and that there are existing cultures, practices and laws that do so;

conscious of the urgency of taking decisive, collective action to transform structures and systems that cause climate change and other threats to Mother Earth;

proclaim this Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth, and call on the General Assembly of the United Nation to adopt it, as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations of the world, and to the end that every individual and institution takes responsibility for promoting through teaching, education, and consciousness raising, respect for the rights recognized in this Declaration and ensure through prompt and progressive measures and mechanisms, national and international, their universal and effective recognition and observance among all peoples and States in the world.

Article 1.  Mother Earth

(1)  Mother Earth is a living being.

(2)  Mother Earth is a unique, indivisible, self-regulating community of interrelated beings that sustains, contains and reproduces all beings.

(3)  Each being is defined by its relationships as an integral part of Mother Earth.

(4)  The inherent rights of Mother Earth are inalienable in that they arise from the same source as existence.

(5)  Mother Earth and all beings are entitled to all the inherent rights recognized in this Declaration without distinction of any kind, such as may be made between organic and inorganic beings, species, origin, use to human beings, or any other status.

(6)  Just as human beings have human rights, all other beings also have rights which are specific to their species or kind and appropriate for their role and function within the communities within which they exist.

(7)  The rights of each being are limited by the rights of other beings and any conflict between their rights must be resolved in a way that maintains the integrity, balance and health of Mother Earth.

Article 2. Inherent Rights of Mother Earth

(1)  Mother Earth and all beings of which she is composed have the following inherent rights:

(a)  The right to life and to exist;

(b)  The right to be respected;

(c)  The right to regenerate its bio-capacity and to continue its vital cycles and processes free from human disruptions;

(d)  The right to maintain its identity and integrity as a distinct, self-regulating and interrelated being;

(e)  The right to water as a source of life;

(f)   The right to clean air;

(g)  The right to integral health;

(h)   The right to be free from contamination, pollution and toxic or radioactive waste;

(i)    The right to not have its genetic structure modified or disrupted in a manner that threatens its integrity or vital and healthy functioning;

(j)    The right to full and prompt restoration for violation of the rights recognized in this Declaration caused by human activities;

(2)  Each being has the right to a place and to play its role in Mother Earth for her harmonious functioning.

(3)  Every being has the right to wellbeing and to live free from torture or cruel treatment by human beings.

Article 3.  Obligations of human beings to Mother Earth

(1)  Every human being is responsible for respecting and living in harmony with Mother Earth.

(2)  Human beings, all States, and all public and private institutions must:

(a)  Act in accordance with the rights and obligations recognized in this Declaration;

(b)  Recognize and promote the full implementation and enforcement of the rights and obligations recognized in this Declaration;

(c)  Promote and participate in learning, analysis, interpretation and communication about how to live in harmony with Mother Earth in accordance with this Declaration;

(d)  Ensure that the pursuit of human wellbeing contributes to the wellbeing of Mother Earth, now and in the future;

(e)  Establish and apply effective norms and laws for the defense, protection and conservation of the rights of Mother Earth

(f)   Respect, protect, conserve and where necessary, restore the integrity, of the vital ecological cycles, processes and balances of Mother Earth;

(g)  Guarantee that the damages caused by human violations of the inherent rights recognized in this Declaration are rectified and that those responsible are held accountable for restoring the integrity and health of Mother Earth;

(h)  Empower human beings and institutions to defend the rights of Mother Earth and of all beings;

(i)    Establish precautionary and restrictive measures to prevent human activities from causing species extinction, the destruction of ecosystems or the disruption of ecological cycles;

(j)    Guarantee peace and eliminate nuclear, chemical and biological weapons;

(k)  Promote and support practices of respect for Mother Earth and all beings, in accordance with their own cultures, traditions and customs;

(l)   Promote economic systems that are in harmony with Mother Earth and in accordance with the rights recognized in this Declaration.

Article 4. Definitions

(1)  The term “being” includes ecosystems, natural communities, species and all other natural entities which exist as part of Mother Earth.

(2)  Nothing in this Declaration restricts the recognition of other inherent rights of all beings or specified beings.

April 2019

Our goal is to collect 1,000,000 signatures from people around BC, asking to adopt the Universal Declaration of Rights of Mother Earth, just like we have the Human Rights Declaration.

The declaration shall serve as an aspiring document, to support vital information to the citizens of BC, who cares enough to want to help maintain the integrity of our planet.

The law enumerates seven specific rights to which Mother Earth and her constituent life systems, including human communities, are entitled:[9]

  • To life: It is the right to the maintenance of the integrity of life systems and natural processes which sustain them, as well as the capacities and conditions for their renewal
  • To the Diversity of Life: It is the right to the preservation of the differentiation and variety of the beings that comprise Mother Earth, without being genetically altered, nor artificially modified in their structure, in such a manner that threatens their existence, functioning and future potential
  • To water: It is the right of the preservation of the quality and composition of water to sustain life systems and their protection with regards to contamination, for renewal of the life of Mother Earth and all its components
  • To clean air: It is the right of the preservation of the quality and composition of air to sustain life systems and their protection with regards to contamination, for renewal of the life of Mother Earth and all its components
  • To equilibrium: It is the right to maintenance or restoration of the inter-relation, interdependence, ability to complement and functionality of the components of Mother Earth, in a balanced manner for the continuation of its cycles and the renewal of its vital processes
  • To restoration: It is the right to the effective and opportune restoration of life systems affected by direct or indirect human activities
  • To live free of contamination: It is the right for preservation of Mother Earth and any of its components with regards to toxic and radioactive waste generated by human activities

The Rights of Mother Earth from Tiquipaya Bolivia

From World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth,
Cochabamba, Bolivia, 22 April – Earth Day 2011.

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