Recognizing Mother Nature’s rights

That’s what Bolivia is doing:

Bolivia is preparing to pass a new law that could lead to citizens challenging environmental destruction in court.

A Ley de Derechos de la Madre Tierra (The Law of Mother Earth) would grant nature the same rights as humans, according to The Guardian.

The country will establish 11 new rights for nature, including: the right to exist, the right to continue natural cycles, the right to clean water and air, the right to be free of pollution, and the right not to have cellular structures altered or genetically modified.

The law will also give nature the right "to not be affected by mega-infrastructure and development projects that affect the balance of ecosystems and the local inhabitant communities."

"It makes world history," Bolivian Vice-President Alvaro García Linera said. "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."

I think it’s wonderful.  Hopefully it’s not just an empty gesture, but an actual, enforceable piece of legislation.

More here.