Ahimsa (nonviolence) is the basis of many faiths that have emerged on Indian soil. Translated into economics, nonviolence implies that our systems of production, trade, and consumption do not use up the ecological space of other species and other people,” the author writes. Credit: CC Piffle.
Earth rights are the basis of equity, justice, and sustainability. On Earth Day 2010, Bolivian President Juan Evo Morales Ayma organized a conference on Rights of Mother Earth. The idea was to start a process for adopting a Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth on the lines of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Without Earth Rights, there can be no human rights. It is time to deepen human rights by deepening the recognition that humans depend on the earth. Earth rights are human rights.
Humanity stands at a precipice. We have to make a choice. Will we obey the market laws of corporate greed or Gaia’s laws for maintenance of the earth’s ecosystems and the diversity of her beings?
The laws for maximizing corporate profits are based on:
- Privatizing the earth
- Enclosing the commons
- Externalizing the costs of ecological destruction of hazards
- Respecting the integrity of the earth’s ecosystems and ecological process
- Recovering the commons
- Internalizing ecological costs
For the complete article, visit Earth Democracy and the Rights of Mother Earth, Tukkin