Search Results for: rights of nature

May 7, 2024

The Great Salt Lake is Disappearing… So Utah Bans Rights of Nature.

The Great Salt Lake. Image by Erin Testone. A growing number of American jurisdictions are outlawing Right of Nature as we embark on the greatest rates of extinctions in our planetary history.  In this essay, Will Falk, encourages Rights of Nature advocates to recognize that we cannot wait for courts and governments to enforce Rights… Read more »

Read More | Blogs, Chemical Trespass, Extraction & Pollution, Rights of Nature

Jan 17, 2024

International Rights of Nature Tribunal rules impacts caused by current forestry model as ecocide

Press release · 11th Local Rights of Nature Tribunal Biobío, Concepción, Chile International Rights of Nature Tribunal rules impacts caused by current forestry model as ecocide The International Rights of Nature Tribunal held its 11th Local Tribunal in the Biobío region in Chile on Friday, January 12, focusing its attention on the violations of the Rights of… Read more »

Read More | News, Press Releases, Rights of Nature

Sep 18, 2023

Industrial Society Needs Cultural Transformation to Embrace Rights of Nature

That Begins with the Stories we Tell . . . CELDF’s Education Director, Ben G. Price, is a pioneer in establishing the legal Rights of Nature. He organized the first community on Earth to enact a Rights of Nature law (Tamaqua, PA, 2006). In 2019 he shared what he had learned from nearly two decades… Read more »

Read More | Publications, Rights of Nature

Aug 2, 2023

Unmuting Rights of Nature

“In our history, humans were owned at one point. That is the position Nature is currently in.”

Read More | Rights of Nature

Mar 3, 2023

Wouldn’t You Say? – From Rights of Nature to Right Relationship

We are used to extracting not only metallic ores and fossil fuels, but ourselves and our communities from the natural world, and yet we don’t notice the increasing distance placed between us and our natural habitat by the human-made environment.

Read More | Blogs, Community Rights, Rights of Nature

Feb 28, 2023

RIGHTS OF NATURE PANEL DISCUSSION: Tuesday, March 21, 2023 from 6:30pm – 8:30pm PST

Rights of Nature Panel Discussion: Tuesday, March 21, 2023 from 6:30pm – 8:30pm PST

Read More | Events, Rights of Nature

Feb 16, 2023

Public Interest Environmental Law Conference (PIELC) 2023 Panel: “Protecting our Vital Watersheds – Transitioning to Rights of Nature”

March 3rd at 1:15pm to 2:45pm PST/4:15pm to 5:45pm EST. CELDF’s Kai Huschke will be facilitating this panel on “Protecting our Vital Watersheds – Transitioning to Rights of Nature” focused on giving entities in nature such as rivers and watersheds legal rights.

Read More | Events, Rights of Nature

Oct 31, 2022

Celebrating Victories in Europe and South America, the Rights of Nature Movement Plots Strategy in a Time of ‘Crises’

A global alliance formed in 2010 to advance an unorthodox legal theory that ecosystems and wild animals have rights, similar to humans. Now, says one leader, those ideas are “legitimate subjects of debate.”

Read More | News from the Grassroots, Rights of Nature

Oct 28, 2022

CELDF Allies with the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature in Siena, Italy

The Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature (GARN) gathered in Siena Italy at the 13th century monastery, Certosa di Pontignano, from October 15-18, and CELDF was there.

Read More | Events, News from the Grassroots, Rights of Nature

Sep 29, 2022

The rights of nature movement cannot be stopped

By Pamela Haines September 27, 2022 From the Navajo Nation to a small town in Pennsylvania to Ecuador, then across the world, the idea of enshrining the rights of nature is only growing.

Read More | News from the Grassroots, Rights of Nature

Sep 23, 2022

Wouldn’t You Say? – What are the Rights of Nature?

The law locks up the man or woman, Who steals the goose from off the common, But leaves the greater villain loose, Who steals the common from off the goose

Read More | Blogs, Issues, News, Rights of Nature

Sep 15, 2022

CELDF’s Proposed Rights of Nature Principles

A new system of law based on respect for Nature and the obligations we share as collaborators with life-supporting ecosystems must be institutionalized, recognizing Nature as a unique legal entity and rights holder.

Read More | Issues, News, Resources, Rights of Nature

Sep 7, 2022

Unveiling Rights of Nature Artwork and Logo

We want to begin this next chapter of the Nature Leads Series by unveiling CELF’s beautiful new Rights of Nature artwork and logo designed by two talented artists and organizers from the St. Lawrence River / Kaniatarowanenneh Watershed, Haudenosaunee Territory, in what is known as the New York State.

Read More | News, Rights of Nature

Jul 8, 2022

“Putting the rights of nature on the map. A quantitative analysis of rights of nature initiatives across the world.”

The Rights of Nature (RoN) promote a new understanding of the human
environment, where natural entities are conceived as subjects with intrinsic value independent of human interests. The implementation of this idea
gained momentum in the United States in 2006. One decade and a half later, the idea has spread all over the world.

Read More | News, Resources, Rights of Nature

Jul 5, 2022

Join CELDF & Sierra Club Niagara Group Environmental Series on Rights of Nature

Wednesday, July 20, 2022 at 6:30 PM Eastern Time Sierra Club Niagara Group Environmental Series: Rights of Nature Legislation with Dr. Joe Stahlman, Tish O’Dell and Assemblyman Patrick Burke Rights of nature legislation bring us back to the concept of being one with nature, a belief held by indigenous cultures throughout the world. The current… Read more »

Read More | Events, News

Mar 15, 2022

LEBOR like bill in New York seeks Rights of Nature for Great Lakes

New York State Assemblyman Patrick Burke, a 37-year-old Democrat from the Buffalo area, has introduced legislation “that will create a Great Lakes Bill of Rights with the goal of securing legal rights for the entire ecosystem and giving people and nature a role in the decision-making process regarding current and future projects that impact the… Read more »

Read More | News, News from the Grassroots, Rights of Nature

Jan 7, 2022

Donegal County Council votes unanimously to adopt Rights of Nature

In December, the Donegal County Council in Ireland voted unanimously to adopt the Rights of Nature as “an important statement of intention that imbeds the concept as a core value and a keystone concept.”

Read More | Blogs

Dec 14, 2021

Historic Rights of Nature Victory in Ecuador

The plaintiffs were able to introduce scientific studies that supported their claims that current government regulations would harm the forest ecosystem and sacred species.

Read More | Press Releases

Dec 14, 2021

Virginia Community Joins Global Rights of Nature Movement

Industrial gold mining has been shown to devastate local communities, including through the depletion of water tables and poisoning of water systems.

Read More | Press Releases

Nov 20, 2021

Challenges to Implementing Rights of Nature in the U.S

The intentional conflation of privileged property of this sort with personal property, the product of individual labor and creativity, perpetuates distrust of Rights of Nature.

Read More | Blogs

Oct 26, 2021

International Meeting: Rights of Nature Experiences

Join Siembra Centro Sociojurídico para la Defensa Territorial and others at this roundtable event on Rights of Nature Experiences.

Read More | Events

Oct 8, 2021

Book: The Politics of Rights of Nature

How Rights of Nature laws are transforming governance to address environmental crises through more ecologically sustainable approaches to development.

Read More | News, Publications, Rights of Nature

Aug 4, 2021

Rights of Nature Principles

CELDF has been involved in establishing legal Rights for Nature in Western law for over two decades, from the beginning of this movement’s contemporary phase. We recognize that institutionalizing the Rights of Nature requires a cultural paradigm shift that challenges and changes our legal, social, and moral behavior. For life on Earth to survive, and… Read more »

Read More | Issues, Resource Links, Rights of Nature

Jul 29, 2021

Youth Declaration on the Rights of Nature and Future Generations

Earth Law Center and the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature (GARN) Youth Hub led two sessions on “Youth and the Rights of Nature Movement: shifting the paradigm for all future generations” at the first IUCN Global Youth Summit April 7-9. As a result of the Rights of Nature sessions, a Declaration was drafted.… Read more »

Read More | Community Wires, Issues, News, Resource Links, Rights of Nature

May 31, 2021

Newsletter: Building International Rights of Nature Solidarity

CELDF is honored to work in solidarity with a new French-speaking network to advance the Rights of Nature in Europe. The network includes Loire Parliament, Valentransition, A.R.B.R.E.S., id-eau, Notre Affaire à Tous and others.  “We are now working to grow the network with other similar organizations and communities active in the defense of the ecosystems… Read more »

Read More | Blogs, Community Rights, News, Rights of Nature

May 30, 2021

The Rights of Nature in the U.S.A.: Legal and Social Debates

4:00 PM – 6:00 PM ET Join Carolina Public Humanities for a public screening of the acclaimed documentary “Invisible Hand” (2020) and dialogue with activists, advocates, and scholars on the current struggles and advancements of the rights of human and natural communities in the USA. Film Screening: 4:00-5:30 pm ETPanel Discussion: 5:45-6:45 pm ET Documentary:The… Read more »

Read More | Events

May 30, 2021

Invisible Hand Screening: Rights of Nature Network Atlantic Canada

7:30 PM Atlantic Time (Canada) Join us for a virtual screening of the award-winning film Invisible Hand, a documentary exploring the global Rights of Nature movement, followed by a Q&A with organizers from CELDF. Invisible Hand is a “paradigm-shifting” documentary about the ‘Rights of Nature’ Movement. The defining battle of our times where Nature, democracy, and… Read more »

Read More | Uncategorized

May 28, 2021

Rights of Nature, Rights of the People vs. State-Authorized Corporate Toxic Practice in Front of Oregon Courts

NEWPORT, OR: Arguments on the assertion of local democracy over state-sanctioned corporate public health violations and a Rights of Nature law will be presented on June 1. For over two years, the Freedom from Aerially Sprayed Pesticides Ordinance of Lincoln County successfully banned corporate aerial spraying of pesticides as a violation of natural ecosystems’ rights and people’s rights to clean air, water and soil.

Read More | Uncategorized

May 9, 2021

Newsletter: The Rights of Nature Are Blooming

It’s happening. The Rights of Nature movement is exploding as communities rise up around the world to demand a paradigm shift in our legal system’s relationship to the earth and her ecosystems. So far in 2021, Rights of Nature has advanced in places including Oaxaca, Mexico, through a constitutional proposal; France, where a network of… Read more »

Read More | Blogs, News

Apr 26, 2021

Financial Threats to Rights of Nature Lawmaking

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Michelle SanbornCommunity Environmental Legal Defense FundCommunity Organizermichelle@celdf.org603-524-2468 Corporate ‘person’ uses constitutional rights law to justify attorney fees from the Town of Nottingham, targeting people’s use of direct democracy for climate action. NOTTINGHAM, NH: Corporate personhood “rights” are once again being weaponized to financially punish and intimidate a local community that took a… Read more »

Read More | Community Rights, Press Releases

Apr 18, 2021

ADVISORY: Oral Arguments in Civil Rights Appeal Advancing Rights of Nature and Local Democracy in Ohio

Oral arguments in a federal civil rights case against the State of Ohio have been scheduled. Plaintiffs from seven Ohio counties, representing Rights of Nature laws and other measures protecting local democracy from corporate special interests. Plaintiffs are petitioners for local initiative campaigns that were all successfully qualified various measures that were blocked from the ballot.

Read More | Community Rights, Democratic Rights, News, Press Releases

Mar 3, 2021

International Rights of Nature Solidarity

Following international support for the Lake Erie Bill of Rights, CELDF is honored to work in solidarity with a new French-speaking network to advance Rights of Nature in Europe.

Read More | News, Press Releases, Rights of Nature

Feb 15, 2021

For All to See: Bias of New Hampshire Judiciary Exposed in Rights of Nature, Healthy Climate Proceedings

In 2019, Nottingham residents passed a Freedom from Chemical Trespass Ordinance securing the rights of ecosystems and of townspeople to a “climate system capable of sustaining human societies.” Now New Hampshire courts have sided with corporations who infringe on those rights, revealing a pattern of bias embedded within the New Hampshire judiciary.

Read More | News, Press Releases, Rights of Nature

Jan 5, 2021

The Rights of Nature: An Extension of Human Rights?

Join us Tuesday 12 January, at 12:30 p.m EST for the third episode of this conference series, entitled “Nature rights: an extension of Human rights?”.

Read More | Community Wires, Events, News from the Grassroots, Resources, Rights of Nature

Dec 24, 2020

‘The Courts Are a Sham’: New Hampshire Supreme Court Refuses to Hear Rights of Nature, Healthy Climate Arguments

New Hampshire Supreme Court Refuses to hear arguments on Rights of Nature and the right to a Healthy Climate. Amidst ecological catastrophe, movements for a paradigm shift in law have made global gains in 2020. Granite State judges have chosen to reject a request for a people’s defense of a municipal Rights of Nature and healthy climate law.

Read More | Chemical Trespass, Community Rights, Democratic Rights, News, Press Releases

Dec 15, 2020

BREAKING: Gas Company Files Federal Lawsuit To Overturn Small Pennsylvania Township’s Rights of Nature Law…Again

Gas company PGE sues Grant Township over democratically enacted law. The PA Department of Environmental Protection also sued Grant in 2017, making this filing the third lawsuit against the Township (pop. 700) for trying to protect its drinking water.

Read More | Chemical Trespass, Community Rights, Corporate 'Rights', Democratic Rights, Extraction & Pollution, Issues, Press Releases & Blogs, Rights of Nature

Dec 6, 2020

BREAKING: Major Gains for Rights of Nature Movement Met With Corporate and State Backlash

Corporate and State opposition come to light as Rights of Nature organizing and lawmaking gain momentum.

Read More | News, Press Releases, Press Releases & Blogs, Rights of Nature

Dec 4, 2020

Common Dreams: Rights of Nature Debate Reaches New Heights

A bill was just proposed in Missouri to ban Rights of Nature litigation, the American Petroleum Institute just filed a brief to oppose local Rights of Nature laws, as the Democratic Party shows interest in the concept.

Read More | News from the Grassroots, Rights of Nature

Nov 6, 2020

Remembering a Rights of Nature Warrior

Reekumani Greendeer was a fierce advocate for Nature. We will honor his memory through continued efforts for the Rights of Nature.

Read More | Community Wires

Nov 4, 2020

CELDF Statement on Orange County, FL ‘Rights of Nature’ Law

The Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) has prepared the following statement in response to the passage of the Wekiva River and Econlockhatchee River Bill of Rights.

Read More | Blogs, News, Rights of Nature

Oct 6, 2020

CENSORING THE BALLOT: Civil Rights Appeal Filed to Defend Rights of Nature and Local Democracy in Ohio

Ohioans are taking a stand against evasive and oppressive tactics used by the State to suppress local ballot measures and stifle democracy. Plaintiffs from seven counties have filed an appeal to the Sixth Circuit in a federal civil rights case against the State of Ohio.

Read More | Press Releases, Press Releases & Blogs

Oct 6, 2020

Reuters: ‘Dramatic’ global rise in laws defending rights of nature

From Bolivia to New Zealand, rivers and ecosystems in at least 14 countries have won the legal right to exist and flourish, as a new way of safeguarding nature gains steam. This new legal route to protect the planet – overriding the long-held human right to harm – bring fresh arguments to court, rally communities and shift local politics.

Read More | Issues, News from the Grassroots, Rights of Nature

Sep 6, 2020

Earth Defenders Warn Against Democrats Undermining ‘Rights of Nature’ Movement With Watered-Down Approach

Rights of Nature advocates caution against handing over Rights of Nature oversight to the Democratic Party.

Read More | Community Rights, Corporate 'Rights', Corporate Agriculture, Democratic Rights, Issues, News from the Grassroots

Sep 4, 2020

Democratic Party Must Not Water Down Rights of Nature

Some leaders within the growing Rights of Nature movement in the United States have offered perspective and the Democratic Party’s actions

Read More | News, Press Releases & Blogs

Aug 18, 2020

Rights of Nature with United Church of Christ Pastor

The UCC hosts CELDFs Tish O’Dell for a Rights of Nature presentation. Watch the full webinar here!

Read More | News from the Grassroots

Aug 12, 2020

Press Release: Toledo Residents Experiment With Civilian Rights of Nature Enforcement

Toledo, Ohio residents give oral arguments in Lake Erie Bill of Rights pro se lawsuit to advances one avenue for participatory Rights of Nature enforcement.

Read More | Press Releases & Blogs

Jul 20, 2020

THESIS: Anticapitalism and Environmentalism in the American Rights of Nature Movement

Canadian honors student, Camylle Lanteigne, unpacks the connection between anticapitalism and ecocentrism in the Rights of Nature Movement. Her research focuses on CELDF’s philosophy as a framework for her arguments.

Read More | Community Wires, Corporate 'Rights', Democratic Rights, Rights of Nature

Jul 14, 2020

Virginia Network Launched to Challenge Corporatism and Dillon’s Rule, Advance Rights of Nature

The Network has been initiated by residents who worked to protect Buckingham County, Virginia from a proposed large-scale fracked gas compressor station for the now-defeated Atlantic Coast Pipeline.

Read More | Community Wires, Press Releases & Blogs

Jun 9, 2020

Guest Blog: Time for a Universal Declaration on the Rights of Nature

Pella Thiel, Rights of Nature Sweden, calls for meaningful changes to our relationship with nature.

Read More | Blogs, News

May 21, 2020

A Closer Look: Exploring the Rights of Nature on June 3

A Live Q&A Session with CELDF organizers taking a Closer Look at the Rights of Nature.

Read More | Events