Bolivian "Law of Mother Earth"
Below the cut is a start on an English translation of Bolivia's proposed "law of Mother Earth". Note that Bolivia is officially "the Plurinational State of Bolivia," which is why all the references to plurinationality!
The Plurinational Legislative Assembly
Decrees
A Law of the Rights of Mother Earth
Chapter 1: Objective and Principles
Article 1 (Objective): The objective of the present law is to recognize the rights of Mother Earth, as well as the obligations and duties of the Plurinational State and of society to guarantee the respect of these rights
Article 2 (Principles): The principles of obligatory compliance that govern the present law are:
1. Harmony. Human activities, in the framework of plurality and diversity, should achieve dynamic equilibrium with the cycles and processes of Mother Earth
2. Collective Good. The interests of society, in the framework of the rights of Mother Earth, take precedence over all human activities and all acquired rights.
3. Guarantee of the regeneration of Mother Earth. The State at its various levels and society, in harmony with the common interest, should guarantee the necessary conditions so that the diverse systems of the Mother Earth can absorb damage, adapt themselves to disturbances, and regenerate themselves without significantly changing their characteristics of structure and function, recognizing that living systems have limits in their capacity for regeneration and that humanity has limits in its capacity to reverse its actions
4. Respect and Defense of the Rights of Mother Earth. The state and all individual people or collectives, respect, protect, and guarantee the rights of Mother Earth for the well-being of current and future generations.
5. No commodification. Neither living systems nor the processes that sustain them may be commercialized, nor can they form part of anyone's private property.
6. Intercultural cooperation: Exercising the rights of Mother Earth requires the recognition, recovery, respect, protection, and dialogue of the diversity of feelings, values, knowledge, skills, practices, abilities, transcendencies [Span: trasendencias: ie, religions?], transformations, sciences, technologies, and norms of all the cultures of the world that seek to live in harmony with the natural world.
Chapter 2: Mother Earth, Definition and Character
Article 3 (Mother Earth). Mother Earth is the living, dynamic system consisting of the indivisible community of all living systems and living beings, interrelated, interdependent, and complementary, that share a common fate. Mother Earth is considered sacred in the worldviews of nations and peoples who are indigenous and of rural origin.
Article 4 (Living systems). There are complete and dynamic communities of plants, animals, microoraganisms and other beings and their environment, where human communities and the rest of the natural world interact in a functional unity, under factors of climate, physical geography, and geology, as well as productive practices, and the cultural diversity of Bolivians, and the worldviews of indigeous nations and peoples, intercultural communities, and African-Bolivians.
Article 5. (Legal Character of Mother Earth).
The Plurinational Legislative Assembly
Decrees
A Law of the Rights of Mother Earth
Chapter 1: Objective and Principles
Article 1 (Objective): The objective of the present law is to recognize the rights of Mother Earth, as well as the obligations and duties of the Plurinational State and of society to guarantee the respect of these rights
Article 2 (Principles): The principles of obligatory compliance that govern the present law are:
1. Harmony. Human activities, in the framework of plurality and diversity, should achieve dynamic equilibrium with the cycles and processes of Mother Earth
2. Collective Good. The interests of society, in the framework of the rights of Mother Earth, take precedence over all human activities and all acquired rights.
3. Guarantee of the regeneration of Mother Earth. The State at its various levels and society, in harmony with the common interest, should guarantee the necessary conditions so that the diverse systems of the Mother Earth can absorb damage, adapt themselves to disturbances, and regenerate themselves without significantly changing their characteristics of structure and function, recognizing that living systems have limits in their capacity for regeneration and that humanity has limits in its capacity to reverse its actions
4. Respect and Defense of the Rights of Mother Earth. The state and all individual people or collectives, respect, protect, and guarantee the rights of Mother Earth for the well-being of current and future generations.
5. No commodification. Neither living systems nor the processes that sustain them may be commercialized, nor can they form part of anyone's private property.
6. Intercultural cooperation: Exercising the rights of Mother Earth requires the recognition, recovery, respect, protection, and dialogue of the diversity of feelings, values, knowledge, skills, practices, abilities, transcendencies [Span: trasendencias: ie, religions?], transformations, sciences, technologies, and norms of all the cultures of the world that seek to live in harmony with the natural world.
Chapter 2: Mother Earth, Definition and Character
Article 3 (Mother Earth). Mother Earth is the living, dynamic system consisting of the indivisible community of all living systems and living beings, interrelated, interdependent, and complementary, that share a common fate. Mother Earth is considered sacred in the worldviews of nations and peoples who are indigenous and of rural origin.
Article 4 (Living systems). There are complete and dynamic communities of plants, animals, microoraganisms and other beings and their environment, where human communities and the rest of the natural world interact in a functional unity, under factors of climate, physical geography, and geology, as well as productive practices, and the cultural diversity of Bolivians, and the worldviews of indigeous nations and peoples, intercultural communities, and African-Bolivians.
Article 5. (Legal Character of Mother Earth).