The president of the Bolivian Sentate's Commission on Land, Territory, Natural Resources and Environment, Julio Salazar, announced April 20 the introduction of a Law of Mother Earth, which would officially enshrine the "rights of nature" in the Andean nation's legal code. Saying the bill would also be introduced in the Chamber of Deputies, lower house of Bolivia's Plurinational Legislative Assembly, Salazar stated: "We are going to seek an equilibrium between man and nature, because under previous law natural resources were anticipated to be commercialized, and now with the new laws we are converting what nature offers into a common good for the benefit of all living beings." (ABI [2], Bolivia, April 20)
Rights established for the natural world under the new law will include: the right to life and existence; the right to continue vital cycles and processes free from human alteration; the right to pure water and clean air; the right not to be polluted; and the right to not have cellular structure modified or genetically altered. It will also enshrine the right of nature "to not be affected by mega-infrastructure and development projects that affect the balance of ecosystems and the local inhabitant communities." Said Vice President Alvaro García Linera of the pending law: "It makes world history. Earth is the mother of all. It establishes a new relationship between man and nature, the harmony of which must be preserved as a guarantee of its regeneration." (The Guardian [3], April 10)
See our last posts on Bolivia [4] and the global climate crisis [5].
Please leave a tip [6] or answer the Exit Poll [7].
