A Review of “Earth Law Futures”

Susie Talbot is a 2023 Churchill Fellow, international human rights lawyer and the founder of the Anima Mundi Law Initiative, set up in 2020 as a space to envision a new legal story in an ecological age and to take measures to align the law and legal practice with planetary realities.

As part of Susie’s fellowship, she wrote a report entitled: “Earth Law Futures. Insights from Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia on the implementation of rights of nature, ecological legal personhood and ‘living entity’ laws and policies,” completed in August 2024.

Susie contacted the Association and shared her report. She explained “that it took some time to digest and think about themes across all the stories and experiences kindly shared with me by people in Aotearoa and Australia and of course it is impossible to capture all the parts to this bigger story, but I hope it is useful for people interested in this area and in how we could live in different ways together.”

The full report is a recommended read for anyone interested in the rights of nature, earth and ecological jurisprudence, or wild law.

The report provides some good descriptions to get people orientated to some of the context and foundations of the report; and guidance on:

  1. the Earth Law story;
  2. contextualising the Earth Law story;
  3. fostering right relations;
  4. using the law strategically; and
  5. building longer-term momentum.

The report mentions in the notes the Birrarung / Yarra River (Yarra Strategic Plan) and the Werribee River (Waterways of the West).

General comments on complexities and difficulties in implementation of law and policies are discussed on p.12 and subsequent pages where case studies are outlined.

Leveraging the law, making the law accessible, modelling it, building momentum, transparency, setting long-term pathways and a whole-of-society approach, and adequate resources, are discussed from p.14 onwards.

Despite the law and other initiatives being in place, there is a lack of action was noted by a number of interviewees as “a stalling of momentum”, on p.19.

A contrast is drawn between the distant form of democracy we have currently, with the much-needed devolution of power described as “Rooted democratic practice”, on p.20.

As a means of starting change, a call is made for people to “…go to the river”, reflecting the work of WRA and partners to attract people to the Werribee River, on p.21.

Encouragement is given to transforming ourselves over time, to becoming both a human and planetary being, and modelling the necessary change, from p. 24.

The merits of legally binding approaches such as enshrining the status of waterways in law are discussed, such as “living entities” for the Werribee River and others, on p.26 to 32.

The Earth Law report concludes on p.33 with notes on the work in progress, noting instruments such as laws and policies, along with lessons learnt, which are beginning to reframe nature into a subject in the law

The author visited Werribee Riverkeeper John Forrester in April 2024 as part of the research required for the Churchill Fellowship. The full report is available at https://www.animamundilaw.org/earth-law-in-practice

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