In January 2014, the Alliance launched the International Rights of Nature Tribunal in Quito, Ecuador in conjunction with the 2014 Global Rights of Nature Summit. The Tribunal is to be a permanent international people’s tribunal for Rights of Nature.
Bay Area Rights of Nature Tribunal October 5, 2014
The Bay Area Rights of Nature Alliance (BARoNA) will officially launch members’ collective work on rights of nature with a day-long, public event on October 5th, 2014. BARoNA will develop, staff and hold a people’s tribunal that considers local violations of community and environmental rights in the context of oil and gas extraction generally, and the operations of the Bay Area Chevron refinery in Richmond in particular. The tribunal will also introduce the audience to the concept of restorative justice in the context of rights of nature, and will illustrate for the public (including the media) the dynamic of co-violations of human and environmental rights. By highlighting the impacts locally on people and environment from Chevron and “Big Oil” activities, the tribunal will also place on trial the current global economic system, and its devastating impacts on the world’s ecosystems. Along with education, a goal of the tribunal is to create a platform for developing rights of nature ordinances in the Bay Area, as well as build BARoNA as a vehicle to support and strengthen local campaigns.
The distinguished panel of judges will include:
- Brian Swimme (CIIS and Journey of the Universe)
- Anuradha Mittal (Oakland Institute)
- Courtney Cummings (Arikara and Cheyenne)
- Bill Twist (Pachamama Alliance)
- Carl Anthony (Breakthrough Communities)
The event will be held in the Forum at Laney College a short walk from Lake Merritt BART in Oakland and is readily accessible to public transit.
Lima Peru International Rights of Nature Ethics December 5-6, 2014
Parallel to the UN FCCC December 2014 meetings in Lima, the Global Alliance intends to host its second International Rights of Nature Ethics Tribunal. The intention is to adjudicate a small number of cases aligned with the UN FCCC COP 20 priorities. Cases under review address the impacts of Climate Change, threats to the Great Barrier Reef, destructive oil and mineral extraction in Peru and South America, and protection of Defenders of the Earth such as the Bagua massacre that is on trial this year in Peru.
A distinguished panel of judges will hear the cases in Lima presented by the Prosecutor for the Earth and expert witnesses. The two-day Tribunal will be held Friday 5 – Saturday 6 December at the Gran Bolivar Hotel, located near the Alternative Peoples Conference near Parque de la Exposición in central Lima.
