- Shannon Biggs – Global Exchange, Global Alliance for Rights of Nature, USA
- Pablo Solon – Former UN Ambassador and Chief Negotiator, Bolivia
- Cormac Cullinan – Global Alliance for Rights of Nature, Author Wild Law, South Africa
- Natalia Greene – Fundacion Pachamama, Global Alliance for Rights of Nature, Ecuador
- Tom Goldtooth – Indigenous Environmental Network, Turtle Island
- Desmond D’Sa – South Durban Community Environmental Alliance, C17, South Africa
Why do we bring the issue of Rights of Nature to a Climate Change negotiation? This was the question Pablo Solon posed as he spoke at the UN COP 17 Climate Change Press Conference on December 6, 2011 in Durban, South Africa.
Shannon Biggs moderated a panel of Rights of Nature experts who held a press conference to highlight the importance of Rights of Nature in the COP 17 negotiation processes. Cormac Cullinan called for realigning our human governance laws to accord with the laws of nature. Natalia Greene highlighted that with Ecuador’s leadership in implementing Rights of Nature we now know Rights of Nature is a viable alternative. Tom Goldtooth spoke to the systemic change, not climate change that is being called for. We have to be part of a cultural transformation of society that will change institutions and the way we view our relationship with Mother Earth. Desmond D’Sa represents one of the most polluted communities on the African Continent in calling for action to support Rights of Mother Earth.
The international panel included Rights of Mother advocates from South Africa, the US including Turtle Island and South America