The Rights of Nature (MGA)

A recent landmark decision granting the Whanganui River, the third largest river in New Zealand, the status of legal ‘personhood’ poses deep problems for individuals /companies who think of the earth and its resources in terms of ownership. The decision follows a long court struggle for the river’s personhood initiated by the Whanganui River iwi, an indigenous community with strong cultural ties to the water.

Addressing a river in terms of personhood reflects the spirituality of indigenous peoples. Indigenous spirituality in aptly summed up in the words of Chief Seattle. When the US government requested him to sell them the lands which his people had ‘walked gently on’ for generations he replied:

The President in Washington sends word that he wishes to buy our land. But how can you buy and sell the sky, the land? The idea is strange to us. If we do not own the freshness of the air or the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them from us? The earth does not belong to us, we belong to the earth. Chief Seattle 1854

These sentiments resonate with the spirituality of St. Francis of Assisi. He called the elements, the planets, and all beings his sisters and brothers. He addresses water as sister, wind as brother and earth as mother. Those who follow in his footsteps have no difficulty in recognizing the personhood of a river: they treat all beings with mutuality and respect. Our Celtic ancestors, too, lived out of a similar spirituality. They knew that the earth is a living organism pulsating with the divine. They also knew that all things were interconnected in the intricate web of life. The mystical tradition articulates a similar vision: mystics knew that the earth and its beings are alive with the energy of God.

Humans have moved very far from a spirituality that treats all beings with respect and dignity. Not only have we destroyed the habitats of many species but we have polluted our air and water, depleted our soil and exploited the earth for its resources. Environmentalists, forced to defend the rights of nature, are seeking that these rights be enshrined in law. Thomas Berry claims that every being, not just the human, in the Earth Community has three rights:

• The right to be
• The right to habitat,
• The right to fulfil its role in the ever-renewing processes of the Earth Community.
  Others have expanded these rights to include the right to fulfil its evolutionary potential with freedom from human-induced extinctions, the right to freedom from human cruelty and flagrant abuse, and the right to reparations or restitution.
  
  Defenders of the rights of nature are advocating that infringement of these rights be treated as a crime –ecocide. Ecocide, the crime of destroying earth’s ecosystems, applies to individuals but more particularly to companies. In 2009, 4,000 Transnational Companies caused 42.2 trillion dollars of biodiversity ecocide. This is a staggering figure which points to the urgent need for new laws at both national and international levels.
  
  When companies have to pay heavy penalties for upsetting the balance of nature their ethical sensitivity will be sharpened through expediency: the saying ‘money talks and the earth is silent’ will be reversed. The earth will be no longer be silent. Imagine lawyers on behalf of the land, the rocks, the water suing a Fracking Company! We can take heart that progress in safeguarding the rights of nature is underway: Ecuador has embodied the rights of nature into its constitution and Bolivia is in the process of doing likewise.

To sign the petition to protect the rights of nature click here

Messages to: Kathleen Glennon rsm
Kathleen Glennon rsm is a member of the MIA working group on Cosmology and Eco Justice