By Lina Mwamachi
There have been more than 200 cases of nature and human rights violations – rights that are co-dependent, according to data from Earth Law Centre, compiled by Myra L. Jackson, a permanent representative to the United Nations from the Commons Cluster of NGOs.
This was shared with a group of East African journalists during a three-day online workshop, themed Legal Personhood of the Nile River, organized by InfoNile in partnership with two international organizations promoting the rights of nature: the U.S.-based Earth Law Centre and the Canada-based International Observatory on Nature’s Rights.
According to the data shared by Jackson, governments tend to side largely with private industries rather than nature and human rights advocates. Governments were solely responsible for 19% of cases of co-violations of rights, private economic actors such as corporations were responsible for co-violations in 38% of cases, while governments and private sectors jointly contributed to co-violations in 43% of cases.
The same governments often fail to provide justice and reparation to the people and natural systems affected, contributing to the violations.
https://www.stockholmresilience.org/research/planetary-boundaries.html
What are the Rights of Nature?
‘Rights of Nature’ refers to a legal and philosophical concept that grants legal rights to ecosystems, natural communities, and even individual species. This concept contrasts with traditional environmental protection approaches, which typically treat Nature as property to be managed or exploited for human benefit. Instead, the Rights of Nature paradigm recognizes that ecosystems have intrinsic value and rights that should be respected and protected.
The United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) describes the Rights of Nature as a “sustainable development paradigm that recognizes that Nature in all its life forms has the right to exist, persist, maintain, and regenerate its vital cycles.”
The Earth Law Center defines the Rights of Nature as “the recognition and honoring that all ecosystems possess rights.” It advocates for legal systems that “elevate the status of ecosystems to be recognized as rights-bearing entities, thereby granting legal standing to enforce those rights.”
According to Brighton Mwawana, a Kenyan Environmentalist working with Geo-Probe Geo-Hydrotechs Limited Company, nature’s rights are encompassed in many ways, including nature in terms of animals, nature in terms of environment, and nature in terms of humans.
Mwawana adds that nature, including forests and ecosystems, human nature which are all intertwined, stressing that their rights should really be protected for long term sustainable and harmonized coexisting.
Brighton cites that involvement of CSOs and movements knitted for nature activities play a big role in championing and sensitizing communities to embrace nature issues as well as advocate for nature rights and push for change.
How do we best describe Legal Personhood of a river?
When a river is granted legal personhood, it means that the river is recognized as having its own rights, which may include the right to exist, flourish, regenerate, and evolve. This designation empowers individuals or organizations to act as legal guardians or representatives for the river, advocating for its well-being and protection.
Legal personhood for a river often involves a legal mechanism that assigns a set of rights to the river through legislation, court rulings, or constitutional amendments. This approach reflects a growing recognition of the interconnectedness of human and natural systems and seeks to ensure the sustainable management and care of rivers and their ecosystems.
According to Lucas Shuma, a Hydrologist/Geologist at the Geo-Probe-Geo-Hydrotechs Limited Company, from the legal personhood.
perspective, everyone has their rights which must be upheld for comfortable operations. He says that rivers have their legal rights that are managed by different sectors, for example the Water Resources Management Authority (WARMA) in Kenya.
He notes that rivers and water sources in Kenya have rights, such as what amount or by how many inches are people allowed to draw the water from rivers for irrigation or any other purposes. He added that the legal personhood regulations should be respected and implemented to protect these rights.
The Consultants point out that acts of corruption and bribery have contributed largely to infringements of rights of nature and that of water sources, attributing the flood havoc recently experienced in Kenya and other countries from ongoing torrential rains, to breaching of legal personhood rights.
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Earth Jurisprudence, as coined by Thomas Berry, a cultural historian and eco-theologian, refers to a legal and philosophical approach that acknowledges the Earth as a living community with its own inherent rights and integrity. It recognizes the interconnectedness of all life forms and seeks to establish legal and governance systems that prioritize the well-being and flourishing of the entire Earth community.
What is the Way Forward?
As a way of devising long-term solutions to averting dangers, death and loss of animals and property, Shuma advocates for a proper and legal way of doing things that minds the rights of everyone, such as by using proper volumes for construction of water tunnels and dams, as well as avoiding water passways and riparian lands when constructing.
Devising a new world will require a new relationship with the Earth and with humankind’s own existence. Since 2009, the aim of the United Nations General Assembly, in adopting its nine resolutions on Harmony with Nature, has been to define this newly found relationship based on a non-anthropocentric relationship with Nature. The resolutions contain different perspectives regarding the construction of a new, non-anthropocentric paradigm in which the fundamental basis for right and wrong action concerning the environment is grounded not solely in human concerns.
In order to meet the basic needs of a growing population within the limits of the Earth’s finite resources, there is a need to devise a more sustainable model for production, consumption and the economy as a whole, to align with the UN Harmony with Nature Programme.
