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rights of nature

The UN Wants the World Court to Address Nations’ Climate Obligations. Here’s What Could Happen Next

The rulings, while legally non-binding, could still carry significant moral and legal weight. A group of 18 climate-vulnerable nations are seeking an opinion from the “World Court,” with support from 117 other countries.

By Katie Surma

An inside view of International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands on July 23, 2018. Credit: Abdullah Asiran/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Aerial view showing the construction of the Mayan Train between Tulum and Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo State, Mexico, on April 14, 2022. Credit: Carlo Echegoyen/AFP via Getty Images

A ‘Rights of Nature’ Fact-Finding Panel to Investigate Mexico’s Tren Maya Railroad for Possible Environmental Violations

By Katie Surma

Delegates applaud after reaching an agreement during the plenary for the tail end of the United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP15) in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on Dec. 19, 2022. Credit: Andrej Ivanov/ AFP via Getty Images

Nearly 200 Countries Approve a Biodiversity Accord Enshrining Human Rights and the ‘Rights of Nature’

By Katie Surma

Southern Resident killer whales encountered during NOAA's PODs (Pacific Orcinus Distribution Survey) in October 2021 near the west end of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Credit: NOAA Fisheries

Two Towns in Washington Take Steps Toward Recognizing the Rights of Southern Resident Orcas

By Katie Surma

Blanca Chancosa, juíza do Tribunal Internacional dos Direitos da Natureza e líder indígena equatoriana, examina parte da maior mina de minério de ferro do mundo, de propriedade da gigante brasileira de mineração Vale, em 23 de julho de 2022. Crédito: Katie Surma

Mil Milhas na Amazônia, para Mudar a Maneira como o Mundo Funciona

By Katie Surma

Celebrating Victories in Europe and South America, the Rights of Nature Movement Plots Strategy in a Time of ‘Crises’

By Katie Surma

Blanca Chancosa, a judge with the International Rights of Nature tribunal and an Ecuadorian Indigenous leader, looks into part of the world's largest iron ore mine owned by the Brazilian mining giant Vale on July 23, 2022. Credit: Katie Surma

A Thousand Miles in the Amazon, to Change the Way the World Works

By Katie Surma

Demonstrators gather in Santiago, on Oct. 25, 2019, a week after protests started in Chile. Credit: Pedro Ugarte / AFP via Getty Images

Chilean Voters Reject a New Constitution That Would Have Provided Groundbreaking Protections for the Rights of Nature

By Katie Surma

Hilochee Wildlife Management Area in Orlando, Florida. Credit: Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Two Lakes, Two Streams and a Marsh Filed a Lawsuit in Florida to Stop a Developer From Filling in Wetlands. A Judge Just Threw it Out of Court

By Katie Surma

Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate uses a megaphone while marching with environmental demonstrators through central Stockholm during a protest organized by Fridays for Future against perceived inaction by governments towards climate change last week in Stockholm. Climate activist organizations, including Fridays For Future, protested on the side-lines of the Stockholm 50+ climate summit, and the youth-led Aurora movement announced details of their legal action against the Swedish state in relation to their climate policies. Credit: Jonas Gratzer/Getty Images.

Fifty Years After the UN’s Stockholm Environment Conference, Leaders Struggle to Realize its Vision of ‘a Healthy Planet’

By Katie Surma

The woodland at dawn in Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary on Nov. 19, 2009 in Kerala, India. Credit: Phil Clarke Hill/In Pictures via Getty Images

Indian Court Rules That Nature Has Legal Status on Par With Humans—and That Humans Are Required to Protect It

By Katie Surma

A person stands on a dock on Lake Virginia in Orlando. Credit: Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Florida Judge Asked to Recognize the Legal Rights of Five Waterways Outside Orlando

By Katie Surma

Woolly monkey. Credit: Evgenia Kononova

Ecuador’s High Court Rules That Wild Animals Have Legal Rights

By Katie Surma

Tourists snorkel at a coral reef in Portobelo, Colon province, Panama in 2021. Reefs there have been damaged by climate change and pollution. Credit: Luis ACOSTA / AFP via Getty Images.

Panama Enacts a Rights of Nature Law, Guaranteeing the Natural World’s ‘Right to Exist, Persist and Regenerate’

By Katie Surma

Toreadora lake in Cajas National Park in the highlands of Ecuador. Credit: Martha Barreno /VW Pics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Can Rights of Nature Laws Make a Difference? In Ecuador, They Already Are

By Katie Surma

Maya van Rossum (second from left), the leader of the green amendment movement, attends the Walking 4 Climate rally outside the New Mexico State Capitol with New Mexico legislators and community members on Jan. 17, 2022. Credit: Green Amendment For the Generations

New Mexico Could Be the Fourth State to Add a Green Amendment to Its Constitution, But Time Is Short

By Aydali Campa

A young fingerling Chinook salmon leaps out of the water on May 16, 2018 in Half Moon Bay, California. Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

In the Latest Rights of Nature Case, a Tribe Is Suing Seattle on Behalf of Salmon in the Skagit River

By Katie Surma

View from the observation tower of rising mist from the rain forest canopy in the rain forest near La Selva Lodge near Coca, Ecuador. Credit: Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket via Getty Images

Ecuador’s High Court Affirms Constitutional Protections for the Rights of Nature in a Landmark Decision

By Katie Surma

Aerial scenes from the Northern Amazon from the town of Iqitos to the Amazon oil town of Trompederos, Peru, June 11, 2007. Credit: Brent Stirton/Getty Images

Indigenous Women in Peru Seek to Turn the Tables on Big Oil, Asserting ‘Rights of Nature’ to Fight Epic Spills

By Katie Surma

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