United Nations

Because environmental challenges span the globe, ELC advocates before the United Nations seeking laws and policies that allow people and nature to flourish together.

We are working with Rights of Mother Earth and partners of the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature to help gain 1 million signatures to urge the UN to formally adopt a Declaration (the Universal Declaration on the Rights of Mother Earth- UDRME) that recognizes the human responsibility to protect Nature. You can sign the petition here. 

Other United Nations Advocacy

International Union for the Conservation of Nature

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is a global environmental network with more than 16,000 experts and 1,300 member organizations. ELC advocates for the IUCN to adopt and implement Earth law policies and projects.

At the 2012 World Conservation Congress, IUCN members recognized Nature’s rights by passing a resolution that makes the Rights of Nature a key part of the IUCN’s decision-making process.  As a member of the IUCN’s World Commission on Environmental Law, ELC played a key role in getting the IUCN to prioritize its Rights of Nature. Because of ELC’s work, IUCN’s 2017-2020 program includes commitments to the Rights of Nature.

Earth Law Center partnered with the Ecological Law and Governance Association. the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law, the Center for Environmental Ethics and Law the Australian Earth Law Alliance, and Economics for the Anthropocene (a project of McGill University and Vermont Law) to host an annual series of courses by experts - practitioners and academics - in ecological law and governance. The webinar series launched in 2019 and included 10 webinars and trainings. 

Amicus Briefs

Amicus briefs are legal documents filed in court cases by non-litigants with a strong interest in the subject matter. ELC submits briefs to advise courts of relevant, additional Earth Law and Rights of Nature information or arguments that the court might wish to consider.

  • ELC partnered with International Rivers and International Network for Human Rights (RIDH) to submit amicus briefs to the Consejo de Estado, Colombia's highest administrative court. We also submitted the amicus briefs to the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights and the Constitutional Court of Colombia. These amicus briefs call for recognition of the rights of all Colombian rivers, including the Anchicayá River. They also ask that communities impacted by a dam release in 2001 be fairly compensated.

  • ELC, Amicus Curiae Letter in Mirador Mining Project, Ecuador, English and Spanish (March 1, 2013).

Co-Violation of Rights

2016+Update_+Fighting+for+Our+Shared+Future_+Protecting+Both+Human+Rights+and+Nature's+Rights.jpeg

Recognizing an alarming trend in harm to frontline environmental defenders, Earth Law Center (ELC) released two reports in 2015 and 2016 “Fighting for Our Shared Future: Protecting Both Human Rights and Nature’s Rights.” The reports together examine and analyze 200 cases of co-violations of human and environmental rights and made recommendations on how to establish a better future for people and planet. Read the reports here.

Interspecies Technology Transfer Consortium 

The Interspecies Technology Transfer Consortium is dedicated to providing all species with intellectual property protections for their innovations, and to seeking licensing opportunities and securing financial returns on their behalf. As an initiative of Earth Law Center, the ITTC recognizes the legal rights of every species on Earth, and facilitates their participation in global legal and economic systems.

The Interspecies Technology Transfer Consortium is currently seeking scientific research partners and institutional collaborations. For more information, please contact info@earthlaw.org.