Earthly Rights

In case James Lovelock's views proved disquieting, here's something refreshing and positive which all should find inspiring.

It's a short and very readable introduction to the concept of Wild Law by author, ecologist and academic Stephan Harding which appeared in The Guardian on 03 April.

Wild lawyers will obviously be heartened to see the subject starting to get some serious coverage.

While those yet to get a handle on this as yet little recognised but critical issue will find it a very easy way in. One only has to reflect on why we are in this predicament to recognise its central importance in everything that is transpiring.

Happily, by the same token it also offers one of the few positive ways forward that remain open. These things are not fixed in stone and can be changed - if there is sufficient will.

It is one of the very few options remaining that has the potential to bring about the necessary changes in attitude - and crucially behaviour - on a global scale fast enough to give us the possibility to head off the worst of James Lovelock's predictions, and contain whatever damage we have already caused to the least that is now possible.

And it can be done on a global scale and very quickly - through a Universal Declaration of Planetary Rights at the United Nations. This is a very new and radical idea and time is very short, but the head of steam is already beginning to build, and at a very high level.

To be part of it, join the trees have rights too campaign now, and give the future a chance.

This is such a critical issue it will be covered in more depth as soon as time allows.

For those inspired by these themes, there is a chance to meet Stephan Harding, Polly Higgins, the prime mover behind the Universal Declaration of Planetary Rights, and many of the leading thinkers in the field of Wild Law at the Wild Law Weekend which will take place in Dorset, England at the end of September, which can probably be described as the premiere event globally in the field.

As some of the terms may prove to be somewhat esoteric, here are some definitions with links for greater depth:

Jurisprudence is the theory and philosophy of law.

Earth Jurisprudence is the branch of jurisprudence which is based on the idea that humans are only one part of a wider community of beings and that the welfare of each member of that community is dependent on the welfare of the Earth as a whole.

Earth Jurisprudence means looking at the actual philosophy and value systems that underpin legal and governance systems, and making sure that they support, rather than undermine, the integrity and health of the Earth.

Implicit in Earth Jurisprudence is the idea that rights of other components of the biosphere such as plants and animals need to be acknowledged and recognised (in contrast to dominant legal systems in which they are currently not).

Here is the Earth Jurisprudence website for more.

Wild Law is the manifestation of Earth Jurisprudence in practice, meaning where it exists in draft or actual laws and governance.