Introduction
From the air we breathe, the food we eat, and the water we drink, nature provides the necessities for us to live. Without them, there would be no people, nevermind an economy.
For centuries we have used this planet to grow our civilization, but we know that the planet necessarily has limits. We must protect our planet for people and the economy.
Why a Nature Bill of Rights?
Without a healthy living planet, all other rights are meaningless. Our survival and that of our descendents depends on it. Our most basic right, a right to exist, is a position shared across political, religious and national divides. Surely the single most unifying concept for all humanity. There must be no division in this, for together we will stand or divided we will fall.
A Rights of Nature Bill would for the first time legally establish rights for nature, and fully describe how these rights are woven with human and economic rights. The Bill would position the rights of nature, economies and humans as interdependent, rather than adversarially as present.
In short, the Bill aims to reframe the rights hierarchy – such that it is fit for the purpose of enabling life to prosper through the 21st century and beyond.
Role of County Durham Green Party
DCC councillor and GP Nature spokesperson Jonathan Elmer is going to put a motion to full council on Rights of Nature. If passed by full council, then the council will write to Steve Barclay MP, Secretary of State for DEFRA to ask that they support a national bill on rights of nature.
