Earth Rights
“The natural world is an equal stakeholder in maintaing the wellbeing of the planet—an active participant that is worthy of our respect. ”
Pam Montgomery and April Thanhauser advocating for Earth Rights.
The Right to Thrive
Earth is a living organism that sustains ALL life and, by this virtue, has an inherent right to thrive. To ensure a life-giving future for Earth and all her beings it is imperative that we work toward a global recognition and advocacy for Earth Rights with Nature Consciousness at the core of our activism. As a Nature Evolutionary there is an understanding that we as humans are also a part of nature and when we are in right relationship with Earth and all her beings a co-creative partnership is possible.
Nature Evolutionaries & Nature Consciousness
The old paradigm commonly recognizes three entities that have “rights” – humans, countries and corporations. Everything else is considered property of one of these, including Earth, which encompasses all of nature. As Nature Evolutionaries we are active in shifting this paradigm by embracing the sacred covenant we share with Earth and engaging co-creatively with Nature Consciousness.
Working for Earth Rights
Through the focus of Earth Rights O.N.E. recognizes a wide array of actions to bring greater unity, peace, justice, health, well-being, and a genuine quality of sacredness for all our relations both human and non-human.
We engage in:
Advocacy for Earth Rights at Climate Change, Environmental, and Earthworks Events
Recognition of the importance of plants and trees in our lives.
Sacred Earth Action by bringing awareness to Nature Consciousness and honoring the sacred in ALL the actions we take for Earth.
“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. ”
Protect at least 30% of lands and oceans by 2030
ONE signs onto Earth Law Center’s letter urging delegates at the UN Biodiversity Conference, COP15
To the Heads of Delegations negotiating on behalf of their governments and constituted groups,
A global mass extinction event is undeniably underway.
Due to human industrial activity — and the failure of global leaders to meet previous biodiversity targets set in 2010 — one million species now face extinction, many within the next few years. 150 species are lost every day. The implications of this loss of life for global security and the survival of humankind are urgent and dire: Because the natural systems upon which we depend for food, health, and survival are collapsing at an alarming rate, a tsunami of adverse consequences is already being felt and observed across our economies, food systems, and the climate.
As such, the decisions you make this December at the fifteenth Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Montreal, Canada, will be the most consequential in human history. These negotiations to set new targets to protect biodiversity and prevent mass extinction in the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework will determine the survival of all life on Earth as we know it.
We, the undersigned artists, advocates, and organizations, urge you to agree upon and adopt urgent targets to protect at least 30% of lands and oceans by 2030, with an ultimate goal of 50% protection, in alignment with climate science. Per the 2021 Global Safety Net report, achieving these targets will reverse the dual crises of biodiversity loss and climate change.
Secondly, as noted in the Global Safety Net report, Indigenous lands overlap extensively (37%) with critical ecosystems that must be protected to prevent catastrophic biodiversity loss and climate change. Therefore, we call for the urgent protection and strengthening of Indigenous rights and territories in the Global Biodiversity Framework.
Thirdly, we urge developed nations to commit the maximum amount of funding to support developing countries to reach these targets. Per the United Nations’ 2021 State of Finance for Nature report, committing just 0.1% of GDP to protect biodiversity would prevent ecological collapse. However, current funding commitments leave a $4 trillion gap in meeting critical biodiversity targets. Global superpowers and developed nations now have a historic opportunity to lead our world to safety by uniting behind frontline developing nations in an unprecedented and historic effort to prevent mass extinction.
Finally, we urge every government and negotiating party to support the adoption of the Rights of Mother Earth as an approach to implement the Global Biodiversity Framework, particularly in Targets 11, 15, and 19.1. Doing so would align with the current global shift in public awareness of humanity’s relationship with, reliance on, and inherent connection to nature. It would also support reciprocal relationships with nature, reflect the knowledge of many Indigenous communities, and establish the strongest international law possible to align environmental protection with human interests over the next decade.
Protecting our lands and oceans is as critical to addressing the climate crisis as reducing global emissions. Mangrove forests sequester four times the amount of carbon as tropical forests yet have been decimated by farming and aquaculture industries. Industrial fishing leads to the annual killing of 100 million sharks, keystone species that regulate critical ocean ecosystems that sequester carbon. A mere 3% increase in deforestation in the Amazon will push the world’s most vital carbon sink past its tipping point, altering the Earth’s climate and human life forever.
Meeting U.N. targets to limit global warming to 1.5°C requires bold, urgent international action to draw down existing atmospheric carbon by restoring natural carbon sinks and protecting keystone species that keep these ecosystems healthy. The forthcoming U.N. Biodiversity Conference this December is a crucial first step to accomplishing this bold action over the next decade. We urge you to take the above actions to prevent mass extinction, defend global security, and protect life on Earth.
Want to Learn More?
See the Earth Law Center’s report on how the Convention on Biological Diversity can support the Rights of Mother Earth and an ecocentric law perspective!
Below you will find recommendations and a concise rationale for supporting the Rights of Mother Earth.
Current Links
Sign here if you would also like to support this letter to UN Delegates
UN Biodiversity Conference (COP 15) Montreal, Canada, December 2022
Indigenize the Law: Tribal Rights of Nature Movements with Casey Camp-Horinek | Part 1
Resources
Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature https://www.garn.org/
This is an organization dedicated to investigating cases of environmental destruction which violate the Rights of Nature. They sponsor an Earth Rights Conference every year.
Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund www.celdf.org The Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) is building a movement for Community Rights and the Rights of Nature to advance democratic, economic, social, and environmental rights – building upward from the grassroots to the state, federal, and international level.
The Earth Law Center www.earthlawcenter.org
The Center is dedicated to transforming laws to recognize and protect nature's inherent rights to exist, thrive and evolve. They advocate for Earth Rights being incorporated into the constitutions of local and global governments.
Sacred Planet www.wearesacredplanet.com
Sacred Planet focuses on raising consciousness on ALL levels. When we humans raise our consciousness we recognize the importance of being in Right Relationship with nature and the rest of the world.
United Nations www.harmonywithnatureun.org
The United Nations has officially sanctioned International Mother Earth Day and, in so doing, acknowledges that Earth and her ecosystems are our common home and in order to achieve a balance throughout many areas it is necessary to promote Harmony with Nature.
"She's Alive" is a compelling video that personifies the reality that Nature is a conscious, living breathing being and also explores the impact that we, as collective human beings, are having on her now. Click here to view.
Explore Earth Writes or Earth Rites
