toward a universal declaration of planetary rights

PLANETARY RIGHTS and the implications for international legislative

frameworksPolly Higgins

Barrister Advocate of Planetary RightsInitiator Universal Declaration of Planetary RIghts and Rights of All BeingsFounder Trees Have Rights Too

treeshaverightstoo.com

COP 15 December 2009

Planetary Rights COP 15

SUMMARY

1. Why we need expansion of rights

2. The Planetary Rights explained

3. Current inclusion in COP 15, para 13

4. Bolivia’s recent UN Resolution

5. Proposals for next steps



1. EXPANSION OF RIGHTS why we need them


1. trade mechanisms not sufficient

2. identification of ‘value’

3. history of rights extends to eco-systems


2 DIVERGENT APPROACHESPlanet Earth

=Inert Thing

=

Imposed Value $$$=

Commodity=

OLD PARADIGM

Living Being

=

Intrinsic Value=

Responsibility=

NEW PARADIGMtreeshaverightstoo.com

Trade:|

Pollution continues: Carbon Permits to Pollute

Business as usual: dirty fuel subsidies remain

($300 billion pa)

International trade: Kyoto Protocol

(CDM, JI)

Hidden: Unaccountable

=

SLAVE

Transition:|

Laws to stop pollution: EPA rules GHG = pollution

Finance the transition: withdraw dirty fuel subsidies

implement clean energy subsidies

Community Governance:(ecological restoration, Community

Land Trusts, Global Commons)

Transparent: Accountable (now + for future generations)

=

SERVICEtreeshaverightstoo.com

SLAVERY200 years ago: human slavery = human energy

Today: planet slavery = fossil fuel energy

Instead of enslaving humans we have enslaved the planet *Heavy extractive industry accounts for 78% of the worldsʼ man-made GHGʼs


200 years ago:300 companies traded in slaves


Industry said:

- to stop would be uneconomic- to stop would lead to loss of jobs

“Public demand that it remain”

Industry proposed:

- leave it to market forces (trade)- self-regulation - use less/use more efficiently- improve conditions

- limit numbers (cap)- tradeable permits- pay fines if exceed

Industry said it was a necessity


TODAY:300 corporations* trade the planet

Industry said:

- to stop would be uneconomic- to stop would lead to loss of jobs

“Public demand that it remain”

Industry proposed:

- leave it to market forces (trade)- self-regulation - use less/use more efficiently- improve conditions

- limit numbers (cap)- tradeable permits- pay fines if exceed

Industry said it was a necessity

200 years ago: The industry proposals were laughed at

Human slavery was outlawed

Today: The proposals have been implemented

Planetary slavery continues


“Necessity is the plea for every infringement

of human freedom: it is the argument of tryrants

it is the creed of slaves.”William Pitt, Prime Minister, House of Commons, 18 March 1783

Now we have a planetary crisis.Now we need laws to protect the planet.


60 years ago Human Rights were set down

as law after the humanitarian crisis of the 2nd world war.

Right to DiversityRight to Ecological IntegrityFreedom of the Natural Cycles of Life

Right Not to be PollutedRight to Restorative JusticeFreedom of a Healthy & Clean Environment


2. THE PLANETARY RIGHTS


Example: LOESS PLATEAU, CHINA 35,000 square kilometres of the most inhospitable

terrain on the planet.


Systemic dysfunctionextensive disruption -> continuous, accumulative, predictable outcomes


Hierarchy of failing Ecosystems

Loss of biodiversity -> reduced biomass -> reduced photosynthesis -> loss of carbon sequestration -> reduced accumulated necromass -> breakdown of

soil stability -> insufficient nutrient cycling -> hydrological regulation breakdown

(Natural Infiltration and Retention of Rainfall)

OUTCOMES: soil erosion -> loss of fertility -> floods -> drought -> mudslides -> dust storms -> food

insecurity -> poverty -> disparity -> climate change -> unchecked population growth


Focus of the Leuss Principles

diversity ecological integrity-> natural cycles of life

banned polluting practicesimplemented extensive restoration-> a healthy & clean environment


Loess Plateau, after implementation, 8 years later



THE RIGHT NOT TO BE POLLUTED


Pollution = introduction of contaminants into the environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem

eg chemical substances, energy, foreign or naturally occurring (when exceed natural levels)

Forms of pollution: air, water, soil, litter, radioactive substances, noise, light, visual, thermal, GHGʼs


ID of POLLUTIONNon-Point Source ID

=

Countryeg USA

Sectoreg Logging

Carbon=

OLD PARADIGM

Point Source ID=

Fossil Fuel extraction

destruction of natural habitat

use of contaminants=

NEW PARADIGM

Para 13: “Noting that a shared vision for long-term cooperative action should take account not only of the rights of human beings, but also of the rights of Mother Earth and all its natural beings as the adverse effects of climate change also have a range of direct and indirect implications for the full and effective enjoyment of human rights – including the right to sustainable development, self determination, statehood, life, the right of people not to be deprived of their own means of subsistence, the right to water and the right to live well – and are increasingly posing a risk to security and the survival, sovereignty and territorial integrity of states.”


3. CURRENT INCLUSION


“Harmony with Mother Earth...seeks recognition of the Earth as a Whole and the

interaction of human beings with that system of which we are a part”

presented by Bolivia to the UN 12.11.09

Co-sponsored by 22 countries: Algeria, Benin, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cape Verde, Cuba, Dominica, Ecuador, Eritrea, Georgia, Guatemala, Honduras, Mauritius, Nepal, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia, Seychelles and Venezuela.

4. BOLIVIA’S UN RESOLUTION



5. NEXT STEPS & PROPOSALS



1. replace Sustainability with Responsibility (ID duties and obligations eg health of the asset)

2. ID point-source pollution

3. legislate out damaging practices (harm) legislate in beneficial practices (restore) (stewardship via public trust doctrine/fiduciary laws)

toward a universal declaration of planetary rights

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