Rights of Nature Law Library

Ecuador

In 2008, Ecuador ratified a new national constitution. Article 71 of the Constitution states: “Nature, or Pacha Mama, where life is reproduced and occurs, has the right to integral respect for its existence and for the maintenance and regeneration of its life cycles, structure, functions and evolutionary processes.”  For the full text in English and Spanish.

2008 Ecuador Constitution - Chapter 7, Rights of Nature – English:

Article 71. Nature, or Pacha Mama, where life is reproduced and occurs, has the right to integral respect for its existence and for the maintenance and regeneration of its life cycles, structure, functions and evolutionary processes.

All persons, communities, peoples and nations can call upon public authorities to enforce the rights of nature. To enforce and interpret these rights, the principles set forth in the Constitution shall be observed, as appropriate.

The State shall give incentives to natural persons and legal entities and to communities to protect nature and to promote respect for all the elements comprising an ecosystem.

Article 72. Nature has the right to be restored. This restoration shall be apart from the obligation of the State and natural persons or legal entities to compensate individuals and communities that depend on affected natural systems.

In those cases of severe or permanent environmental impact, including those caused by the exploitation of nonrenewable natural resources, the State shall establish the most effective mechanisms to achieve the restoration and shall adopt adequate measures to eliminate or mitigate harmful environmental consequences.

Article 73. The State shall apply preventive and restrictive measures on activities that might lead to the extinction of species, the destruction of ecosystems and the permanent alteration of natural cycles.

The introduction of organisms and organic and inorganic material that might definitively alter the nation’s genetic assets is forbidden.

Article 74. Persons, communities, peoples, and nations shall have the right to benefit from the environment and the natural wealth enabling them to enjoy the good way of living.

Environmental services shall not be subject to appropriation; their production, delivery, use and development shall be regulated by the State.

Ecuador: Constitucion de 2008 - Capítulo 7, Los Derechos de la Naturaleza – Spanish:

Art. 71.- La naturaleza o Pacha Mama, donde se reproduce y realiza la vida, tiene derecho a que se respete integralmente su existencia y el mantenimiento y regeneración de sus ciclos vitales, estructura, funciones y procesos evolutivos. Toda persona, comunidad, pueblo o nacionalidad podrá exigir a la autoridad pública el cumplimiento de los derechos de la naturaleza. Para aplicar e interpretar estos derechos se observaran los principios establecidos en la Constitución, en lo que proceda. El Estado incentivará a las personas naturales y jurídicas, y a los colectivos, para que protejan la naturaleza, y promoverá el respeto a todos los elementos que forman un ecosistema.

Art. 72.- La naturaleza tiene derecho a la restauración. Esta restauración será independiente de la obligación que tienen el Estado y las personas naturales o jurídicas de Indemnizar a los individuos y colectivos que dependan de los sistemas naturales afectados. En los casos de impacto ambiental grave o permanente, incluidos los ocasionados por la explotación de los recursos naturales no renovables, el Estado establecerá los mecanismos más eficaces para alcanzar la restauración, y adoptará las medidas adecuadas para eliminar o mitigar las consecuencias ambientales nocivas.

Art. 73.- EI Estado aplicará medidas de precaución y restricción para las actividades que puedan conducir a la extinción de especies, la destrucción de ecosistemas o la alteración permanente de los ciclos naturales. Se prohíbe la introducción de organismos y material orgánico e inorgánico que puedan alterar de manera definitiva el patrimonio genético nacional.

Art. 74.- Las personas, comunidades, pueblos y nacionalidades tendrán derecho a beneficiarse del ambiente y de las riquezas naturales que les permitan el buen vivir. Los servicios ambientales no serán susceptibles de apropiación; su producción, prestación, uso y aprovechamiento serán regulados por el Estado.

Bolivia

In 2010, Bolivia enacted its national Law on the Rights of Mother Earth, Law 071.  The law protects the rights of Mother Earth to life, water, clean air, to be pollution free, and to restoration.  For the full English text and Spanish text, click these options.

Law N° 071 - 21 December 2010 - CHAPTER III, RIGHTS OF MOTHER EARTH – English:

Article 7. (RIGHTS OF MOTHER EARTH) I. Mother Earth has the following rights:

1. The right to life: It is the maintenance of the integrity of life systems and natural processes that support them, as well as the capacity and conditions for their regeneration.

2. The right to the diversity of life: It is the preservation of differentiation and variety of beings that form Mother Earth, without being genetically altered nor modified in their structure in an artificial manner, so as to threaten their existence, functioning and future potential.

3. The right to water: It is the preservation of the functionality of the water cycles, its existence in the quantity and quality necessary to sustain life systems, and its protection from pollution, for the reproduction of the life of Mother Earth and all its components.

4. The right to clean air: It is the preservation of the quality and composition of the air for the sustainability of life systems and their protection against pollution, for the reproduction of the life of Mother Earth and all its components.

5. The right to balance: It is the maintenance or restoration of the interrelationship, interdependence, complementarity and functionality of the components of Mother Earth, in a balanced way for the continuation of their cycles and the reproduction of their vital processes.

6. The right to restoration: It is the timely and effective restoration of the life systems affected by human activities, either directly or indirectly.

7. The right to live free from pollution: It is the preservation from contamination of any of Mother Earth's components, as well as from toxic and radioactive residues generated by human activities.

Bolivia: Law N° 071 - 21 December 2010 - CAPÍTULO III, DERECHOS DE LA MADRE TIERRA: Spanish

Artículo 7. (DERECHOS DE LA MADRE TIERRA)

I. La Madre Tierra tiene los siguientes derechos:

1. A la vida: Es el derecho al mantenimiento de la integridad de los sistemas de vida y los procesos naturales que los sustentan, así como las capacidades y condiciones para su regeneración.

2. A la diversidad de la vida: Es el derecho a la preservación de la diferenciación y la variedad de los seres que componen la Madre Tierra, sin ser alterados genéticamente ni modificados en su estructura de manera artificial, de tal forma que se amenace su existencia, funcionamiento y potencial futuro.

3. Al agua: Es el derecho a la preservación de la funcionalidad de los ciclos del agua, de su existencia en la cantidad y calidad necesarias para el sostenimiento de los sistemas de vida, y su protección frente a la contaminación para la reproducción de la vida de la Madre Tierra y todos sus componentes.

4. Al aire limpio: Es el derecho a la preservación de la calidad y composición del aire para el sostenimiento de los sistemas de vida y su protección frente a la contaminación, para la reproducción de la vida de la Madre Tierra y todos sus componentes.

5. Al equilibro: Es el derecho al mantenimiento o restauración de la interrelación, interdependencia, complementariedad y funcionalidad de los componentes de la Madre Tierra, de forma equilibrada para la continuación de sus ciclos y la reproducción de sus procesos vitales.

6. A la restauración: Es el derecho a la restauración oportuna y efectiva de los sistemas de vida afectados por las actividades humanas directa o indirectamente.

7. A vivir libre de contaminación: Es el derecho a la preservación de la Madre Tierra de contaminación de cualquiera de sus componentes, así como de residuos tóxicos y radioactivos generados por las actividades humanas.

United States

Since 2006, local municipal rights of nature laws have been enacted in the U.S.  This includes in 2010 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and in 2017 in Lafayette, Colorado.  Lafayette’s 2017 law recognizes that ecosystems “possess a right to a healthy climate.” 

In November 2020, the voters of Orange County, Florida, approved of the first rights of nature law in the state. The Orange County law recognizes the rights of rivers and other waterways “to exist, Flow, to be protected against Pollution and to maintain a healthy ecosystem.” For the full text of the Orange County law.

For the full text of the Pittsburgh and Lafayette laws.

United States: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania –Section 618.03(b):

Rights of Natural Communities. Natural communities and ecosystems, including, but not limited to, wetlands, streams, rivers, aquifers, and other water systems, possess inalienable and fundamental rights to exist and flourish within the City of Pittsburgh. Residents of the City shall possess legal standing to enforce those rights on behalf of those natural communities and ecosystems.  

United States: Lafayette, Colorado: Climate Bill of Rights:

Section 1(a): All residents and ecosystems of the City of Lafayette possess a right to

a healthy climate and life sustaining resources, which shall include the right to be free from all activities within the City of Lafayette that interfere with that right, including the extraction of coal, oil, or gas, disposal of drilling waste contaminated drinking water, lethal carcinogens, toxic gases and other byproducts of industrial activity which threaten human physical and neurological systems.

New Zealand

The Māori iwi and the national government have negotiated agreements to recognize rights of certain ecosystems.  The agreements have been adopted into law by New Zealand’s Parliament.  This includes the Te Urewera Act of 2014, a former national park that is the home of the Tūhoe, as well as the Te Awa Tupua (Whanganui River Claims Settlement) Act of 2017, which states that the river “is a legal person and has all the rights, powers, duties, and liabilities of a legal person.”  For the full text of the Te Urewera Act or the Te Awa Tupua Act.

New Zealand: Te Urewera Act, 4. Purpose of this Act

The purpose of this Act is to establish and preserve in perpetuity a legal identity and protected status for Te Urewera for its intrinsic worth, its distinctive natural and cultural values, the integrity of those values, and for its national importance…

Subpart 3—Legal identity of Te Urewera and vesting of Te Urewera land

(1) Te Urewera is a legal entity, and has all the rights, powers, duties, and liabilities of a legal person.

Canada

In 2021, the Magpie River (Muteshekau-shipu in the Innu language) in Canada was recognized as possessing legal rights through resolutions adopted by the Innu Council of Ekuanitshit and the Minganie Regional County Municipality. Click these links for the full text of the law in English or in French.

The law establishes, in part, that the Magpie River and its watershed possesses fundamental legal rights including:

▪ the right to live, to exist, and to flow;

▪ the right to respect for its natural cycles;

▪ the right to evolve naturally, to be preserved and to be protected;

▪ the right to maintain its natural biodiversity;

▪ the right to maintain its integrity;

▪ the right to perform essential ecosystem functions;

▪ the right to be free from pollution;

▪ the right to regeneration and restoration;

▪ the right to sue.

Mexico

The States of Colima and Guerrero, and Mexico City, adopted laws requiring government to protect the rights of nature.  The 2017 Constitution of Mexico City requires that “a secondary law shall be issued to recognize and regulate the broader protection of the rights of nature formed by all its ecosystems and species as a collective entity subject to rights.”  For the full text of the Mexico City Constitution in Spanish.

Constitución Política de la Ciudad de México, Articulo 13, A(3): 

Para el cumplimiento de esta disposición se expedirá una ley secundaria que tendrá por objeto reconocer y regular la protección más amplia de los derechos de la naturaleza conformada por todos sus ecosistemas y especies como un ente colectivo sujeto de derechos.

Northern Ireland

In 2021, two local councils in Northern Ireland - the Derry City and Strabane District Council, and the Fermanagh and Omagh District Council - approved motions on the rights of nature. Click these links for the full text of the Derry City/Strabane and Fermanagh and Omagh motions.

Excerpt from the Fermanagh and Omagh District Council motion:

"We propose, that over the next 6 months, this Council will collaborate with civic society to explore what rights of nature mean for the people and economies of the region and to investigate how Rights of Nature could be expressed in community plans, corporate plans, improvement objectives and other strategic frameworks. In particular, the council will in the next 6 months hold two community workshops and work with the local community and stakeholders to draw up a Declaration for the Rights of Nature for the District area to be brought back before Council for adoption.

We also request that a report, authored in collaboration and with input from the local community be brought to FODC in relation to embedding ‘Rights of Nature’ as a keystone concept into Council’s operational practices, planning processes and long-term decision making."

Panama

In 2022, Panama enacted Law No. 287 recognizing the rights of nature within the nation’s legal system. The law recognizes Nature as a being who is a rights holder (Article 1) and as a subject with rights that the State has an obligation to respect and protect. For the full text in English and Spanish.

Law No. 287-Chapter II-Rights of Nature-

Article 10. The State recognizes the following minimum rights of Nature, that extend to all living beings, elements and ecosystems of which it is composed:

1. The right to exist, persist and regenerate their vital cycles.

2. The right to diversity of life of the beings, elements and ecosystems of which it is composed.

3. The right to preservation of functionality of the cycles of water, an existence in quantity and quality necessary for the sustenance of life systems.

4. The right to the preservation of the quality and composition of the air for the sustenance of life cycles and their protection against contamination.

5. The right to opportune and effective restoration of the life systems affected directly or indirectly by human activities.

6. The right to exist free from contamination of any of its components, as well as toxic and radioactive residues generated by human activities. Nature has the right to live, exist and persist under its own framework of balanced development where each part of the interconnected process that keeps it alive, be it the biological diversity or its components, may fulfill their function within it.