Inside Climate News: Can Rights of Nature Laws Make a Difference? In Ecuador, They Already Are

February 21, 2022

CDER's Hugo Echeverria Interviewed on the Rights of Nature in Ecuador

Inside Climate News recently spoke with CDER’s Ecuador attorney Hugo Echeverria about the Los Cedros case in which the country’s Constitutional Court ruled that mining in a fragile ecosystem would violate the constitutional rights of nature. (For more on the case check out these links: here and here).

This case was the result of the Constitutional Court translating the country’s 2008 constitutional rights of nature provisions into reality, setting an important precedent, prohibiting mining in a fragile ecosystem - the Los Cedros Protected Forest.

Inside Climate journalist Katie Surma interviewed Hugo to discuss the journey of how Ecuador became the first country to enshrine constitutionally protected rights of nature and the Constitutional Court’s ruling. The interview is available here.