Katie Surma, a journalist with Inside Climate News, reports on Aruba’s efforts to enact Rights of Nature. In its 2008 constitution, Ecuador enshrined the rights of Mother Earth, Pacamamma– the first nation in the world to constitutionally protect Rights of Nature. Now, Aruban lawmakers want Aruba to be the second country to do this. The proposed amendment would protect ecosystems and make the Rights of Nature a moral and legal imperative in Aruba, though it still needs to be approved by both the Aruban Parliament and the Kingdom of Netherlands. Aruba, a small island nation, is facing devastating climate impacts– the island is expected to become significantly warmer and dryer by 2050. The amendment also recognizes that access to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment is a human right. Even though the interdependency between humans and nature is advocated for does not mean that it is protected– though lawyers have begun winning cases against further island development, the government at large is still making short-term profit decisions at the expense of nature.
