In our sixth episode of our podcast Conversations with Mother Nature, Weaving A Path to Ecological Justice: The Global Tapestry of Alternatives and the Rights of Nature Tribunals, we bring together two leading voices from complementary movements who, from different parts of the world, are helping us reimagine our relationship with Earth and with one another.
Ashish Kothari and Francesco Martone engage in a rich dialogue about the intersections of the Rights of Nature and the Global Tapestry of Alternatives, exploring how diverse movements for justice can come together without losing their unique visions and practices.
Ashish Kothari is an Indian environmentalist, co-founder of the Indian environmental organization Kalpavriksh, and co-creator of the Global Tapestry of Alternatives (GTA). The GTA is a worldwide process connecting grassroots networks and initiatives that are building just and sustainable futures outside the dominant paradigm of endless growth, capitalist exploitation, and patriarchal power. Through movements like Vikalp Sangam in India, and weaving with other global initiatives such as Crianza Mutua in Colombia and Mexico, Ashish has been central in creating spaces for dialogue, cross-learning, and solidarity among alternatives from across the planet.
Francesco Martone, an Italian-Ecuadorian jurist and activist, represents the International Rights of Nature Tribunal in this conversation. He is Chair of its Assembly of Judges and also a juror on the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal. With decades of advocacy in human rights and environmental justice, Francesco brings to this dialogue the perspective of how Rights of Nature can serve as a legal, cultural, and political tool to confront systemic crises while recognizing Nature as a living subject of rights.
Together, Ashish and Francesco explore profound questions: What does it mean to move beyond merely resisting destruction and instead say “yes” to alternatives rooted in care, reciprocity, and solidarity? How do we understand and practice democracy when decision-making is reclaimed by communities, not captured by states and corporations? Can the Rights of Nature and movements like the GTA weave together into a pluriverse—a world where many worlds fit—without erasing difference or falling into homogenization?
The episode touches on urgent themes such as ecological breakdown, inequality, patriarchy, colonial legacies, and the false solutions that dominate global agendas, from “net zero” carbon markets to superficial reforms. Against this backdrop, both guests invite us to reflect on what it means to imagine truly transformative pathways: economies of care and solidarity, grassroots democracy, cultural and linguistic diversity, and above all, a recognition that humans are inseparable from the rest of the living world.
As Francesco emphasizes, Rights of Nature is not an isolated legal innovation but part of a broader tapestry of struggles for justice and dignity, where human rights and the rights of Earth must be understood together. Ashish highlights that alternatives already exist—sometimes ancient, sometimes new—and the task is not to scale them up into one global model, but to “outscale” them, connecting across geographies and cultures to weave stronger solidarities.
This episode is a call to expand our imaginations and to learn from the pluriverse of worlds that are already creating futures beyond exploitation and extraction.
🎧 Listen now and access the full transcript and resources in English and Spanish: garn.org/conversations-with-mother-nature
