Earth Law Center
Giving a voice to Nature and future generations through law
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Despite the great work done by countless individuals and organizations, nature continues to suffer. We need a solution that connects all these efforts, steps up protection of the environment and its many inhabitants (including humans) and shifts the paradigm from a human focused perspective to a nature focused one.
Fortunately, that solution exists – Earth Law, which upholds the rights of oceans, rivers and ecosystems to exist and thrive, helps address many of the greatest environmental challenges of our time, including habitat loss, mass extinction and climate change.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Earth Law: River Rights
ELC strategies to establish river ecosystem rights include:
• Drafting an action plan identifying which waterways are most likely to be granted fundamental rights as legal entities, in collaboration with pro bono attorney advisors;
• Developing a campaign to establish legal rights for identified waterways in coordination with local grassroots groups and other partners; and
• Supporting environmental lawyers with rights-based legal arguments for the rivers they work to defend.
Earth Law: Ocean Rights
ELC strategies to ensure rights-based governance include:
• Creating a holistic and ocean rights-based model legislation for ocean law and policy;
• Establishing marine protected areas and sanctuaries, and securing legal rights for these areas;
• Passing rights of nature laws in coastal communities, focusing on sustainability and proactive management; and
• Ensuring that international treaty laws reflect the inherent rights of the ocean (such as through the Marine Biodiversity Treaty for the High Seas and Beyond, currently under negotiation).
Earth Law Outreach: Education
ELC strategies to advance education and outreach include:
• Disseminating ELC’s Earth Law course to law schools nationwide in order to expand the number of future lawyers that can advocate for and defend rights of nature laws;
• Launching a secondary school "Bottle Biosphere” initiative to engage secondary school students in a hands-on application of rights of nature principles, as well as point passionate students towards a career in the growing field of Earth Law; and
• Expanding rights of nature outreach, including social media, speaking engagements, university organizations and new rights of nature groups.
Earth Law Outreach: International
ELC strategies at the international level include:
• Ensuring presentation and passage of the Universal Declaration on the Rights of Mother Earth (Rights of Nature) at a session of the UN General Assembly;
• Advancing rights of nature within the IUCN, including its World Commission on Environmental Law;
• Distributing a Rights of Nature Tribunal Toolkit and increasing the reach of ELC’s Co-Violations Report through infographics, social media and other outreach campaigns;
• Establishing global partnerships to launch rights of nature legal initiatives; and
• Expanding educational programs internationally.
Where we work
External reviews
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of new champions or stakeholders recruited
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults
Related Program
Earth Law Outreach: International
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of new grants received
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Increasing
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
The Earth is at an environmental tipping point. We have a unique opportunity to not only stop, but reverse the ongoing degradation of our planet by transforming our relationship with nature through the creation and application of Earth Law.
Earth Law Center (ELC) catalyzes and connects organizations to ensure that the inherent rights of nature to exist, thrive and evolve are broadly recognized and implemented globally.
ELC's program goal is recognition in our governance systems (both law and economics) of the inherent rights of nature to exist, thrive and evolve, from the local to the international levels.
ELC is committed to producing tangible, fundamental change through the achievement of four primary objectives:
Objective 1: Expand municipalities that recognize Earth Law
Objective 2: Achieve legal personhood for rivers and oceans
Objective 3: Raise consciousness about Earth Law through education and outreach
Objective 4: Promote Earth Law at the international level
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
ELC builds the nature's rights movement in communities across the United States. Nearly three dozen cities in the U.S. have passed ordinances, and Mexico City has amended its constitution, recognizing the rights of nature and asserting communities' rights to self-governance, a healthy environment and sustainable living. ELC's upcoming strategies at the community level include:
• Passing new rights of nature ordinances – beginning with San Francisco and then in other cities (e.g., Portland and Sacramento), as well;
• Implementing existing ordinances to enforce nature's rights, including in Santa Monica; and
• Developing toolkits for allies to pass and implement their own rights of nature ordinances.
Rivers: A New Zealand treaty agreement between the Crown government and Maori iwi recognizes the legal standing of the Whanganui River and its tributaries as an “integrated, living whole." Most recently, the Ganges and Yamuna Rivers and the whole Himalayan Ecosystem were granted legal standing and protection in India. ELC's upcoming strategies to establish legal personhood for rivers include:
• Securing legal rights for waterways (such as in California and New York);
• Empowering lawyers and advocates to campaign on behalf of nature by building a broad-based coalition of organizations and individuals; and
• Achieving laws that protect the inherent rights of nature through comment letters, petitions and litigation.
Oceans: The first Marine Protected Area was established in 1903 by President Theordore Roosvelt. Now is the time to take the next step and recognize the inalienable rights that marine ecosystems possess. ELC's upcoming strategies to ensure recognition and protection of ocean rights include:
• Securing legal personhood for select marine ecosystems (for example, testing a rights-based management regime for marine protected areas);
• Ensuring international treaty law reflects the inherent rights of the ocean (such as through the Marine Biodiversity Treaty for the High Seas and Beyond); and
• Establishing a definition of “ocean health" which is based on the ocean's intrinsic rights and needs, and a new “ocean health index" based on this holistic definition.
Raise consciousness about Earth Law through education and outreach
To raise consciousness and broaden the conversation about Earth Rights to include the general public, ELC will continue to advance education and outreach. ELC's specific strategies include:
• Disseminating ELC's Earth Law course to law schools countrywide in order to expand the number of future lawyers that learn about the rights of nature movement;
• Launching a secondary school Bottle Biosphere Initiative to engage both middle and high school students in a rights of nature discussion and point passionate students towards a career in law; and
• Conducting outreach on rights of nature, including via social media, speaking engagements, university organizations and new rights of nature groups.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
We have a very active Board with specialist expertise and networks, who are each coaching a specific initiative where their guidance is most valuable.
We have significantly expanded our volunteer force by 300%, with further plans to increase in August this year.
We are aiming to significantly increase both partnerships and funding to expand resources dedicated to our legal and international initiatives, as well as our educational initiatives.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
We have achieved:
- Drafting and passing the Santa Monica Biodiversity Ordinance
- Completing the drafting of a similar ordinance for San Francisco
- Approached by Sacramento and Portland to accomplish the same in those cities
- Developed and finalized Earth Law course for law schools and graduate school programs (to be expanded)
- Developed concept and curriculum outline for Bottle Biosphere Project, aimed at connecting low income middle and high schoolers with Earth Law
- Partnered with IUCN to draft and present Rights of Nature proposals presented at the UN for Harmoney with Nature and Rights of Mother Earth
- Published two volumes of the Co-Violations Report to highlight the confluence of the rights of nature with the rights of people, in particular Indigenous populations
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Earth Law Center
Board of directorsas of 07/13/2023
Missy Lahren
Corinne Sanders
Brandon Hubbard
Elvir Causevic
Missy Lahren
Rachelle Adam
Felipe Ospina
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
The organization's co-leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data