The Law of Mother Earth ("Ley de Derechos de La Madre Tierra") holds the land as sacred and holds it as a living system with rights to be protected from exploitation, and creates 11 distinguished rights for the environment. It was passed by Bolivia's Plurinational Legislative Assembly.
This 10 article law is derived from the first part of a longer draft bill, drafted and released by the Pact of Unity by November 2010. Can we please spread this law? There has to be a way for the free market to interoperate with reverence for this planet.
Period.
In accordance with the philosophy of Pachamama, it states, "She is sacred, fertile and the source of life that feeds and cares for all living beings in her womb. She is in permanent balance, harmony and communication with the cosmos. She is comprised of all ecosystems and living beings, and their self-organisation."
"It makes world history. Earth is the mother of all," said Vice-President Alvaro García Linera. "It establishes a new relationship between man and nature, the harmony of which must be preserved as a guarantee of its regeneration."
The law enumerates seven specific rights to which Mother Earth and her constituent life systems, including human communities, are entitled to:
- To life: It is the right to the maintenance of the integrity of life systems and natural processes which sustain them, as well as the capacities and conditions for their renewal
- To the Diversity of Life: It is the right to the preservation of the differentiation and variety of the beings that comprise Mother Earth, without being genetically altered, nor artificially modified in their structure, in such a manner that threatens their existence, functioning and future potential
- To water: It is the right of the preservation of the quality and composition of water to sustain life systems and their protection with regards to contamination, for renewal of the life of Mother Earth and all its components
- To clean air: It is the right of the preservation of the quality and composition of air to sustain life systems and their protection with regards to contamination, for renewal of the life of Mother Earth and all its components
- To equilibrium: It is the right to maintenance or restoration of the inter-relation, interdependence, ability to complement and functionality of the components of Mother Earth, in a balanced manner for the continuation of its cycles and the renewal of its vital processes
- To restoration: It is the right to the effective and opportune restoration of life systems affected by direct or indirect human activities
- To live free of contamination: It is the right for preservation of Mother Earth and any of its components with regards to toxic and radioactive waste generated by human activities.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_the_Rights_of_Mother_Earth
The "Law of the Rights of Mother Earth." Interesting quasi-religious concept, and very interesting that it should be incorporated into the official policy of a nation. This could be precedent-setting, probably in a good way.
ReplyDelete"There has to be a way for the free market to interoperate with reverence for this planet."
Actually, no. The so-called "free" market - viz., capitalism - is predicated on the idea of infinite growth, which necessarily involves limitless exploitation of all resources, both natural and human. It's utterly incompatible with the notion of a harmonious relationship between man and nature. That's why this appears to be a truly radical document.
It's also radical because the rights of nature to clean water and air and to freedom from toxins and genetically modified organisms could equally be defined as human rights. It's talking about a restoration of the commons - the idea that such things belong to all people, and are not to be privatized or commodified for the benefit of corporations or their stockholders. Truly, this is radical.
I gather the USA has been losing its grip on Latin America. People like Evo Morales & Jose Mujica (current presidents of Peru & Uruguay) could never have come to such lasting prominence when the economic hit men and other assorted spooks held sway. The results in some cases appear to be quite interesting. It's almost as if people down there had real freedom, a thing we've lost any semblance of up here.
Z
Correction: Evo Morales is the President of Bolivia, not Peru. So it appears likely that he's a supporter of this law, though I don't know that for sure. He's also the one whose plane was forced to the ground in Austria last year because the spooks thought Edward Snowden might be on board.
ReplyDeleteZ