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Law of Mother
Earth expected to prompt
radical new conservation and social measures in South American nation
·
John Vidal in La Paz
·
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 10 April
2011 18.17 BST
John Vidal
reports from La Paz where Bolivians are living with the effects
of climate change every day Link to this video
Bolivia is set to pass the world's
first laws granting all nature equal rights to humans. The Law of Mother Earth, now agreed
by politicians and grassroots social groups, redefines
the country's rich mineral deposits
as "blessings" and is
expected to lead to radical
new conservation and social measures to reduce pollution and control industry.
The country, which
has been pilloried by the
US and Britain in the UN climate talks for demanding steep carbon emission
cuts, will establish 11 new rights for
nature. They include: the right to life and to exist; the right to continue
vital cycles and processes
free from human alteration; the right to pure water and clean air; the right to balance; the right
not to be polluted; and the right to not have
cellular structure modified or genetically
altered.
Controversially, it will also enshrine
the right of nature "to not be
affected by mega-infrastructure
and development projects that affect the balance of ecosystems and the local inhabitant
communities".
"It
makes world history. Earth is the
mother of all", said Vice-President Alvaro García Linera.
"It establishes a new relationship between man and nature, the harmony of which must be preserved as a guarantee of its regeneration."
The law, which is part of a complete restructuring of the Bolivian legal
system following a change of constitution in 2009,
has been heavily influenced
by a resurgent indigenous Andean spiritual world view which places the environment and the earth deity
known as the Pachamama at the centre of all life. Humans
are considered equal to all
other entities.
But the
abstract new laws are not expected
to stop industry in its tracks. While it
is not clear yet what actual
protection the new rights will give in court to bugs, insects and ecosystems,
the government is expected to establish a ministry of mother earth and
to appoint an ombudsman. It is
also committed to giving communities new legal powers to monitor and control polluting industries.
Bolivia has long suffered from serious
environmental problems from the mining of tin, silver,
gold and other raw materials. "Existing laws are not strong enough," said Undarico Pinto, leader of the 3.5m-strong Confederación Sindical Única de Trabajadores Campesinos de
Bolivia, the biggest social
movement, who helped draft the
law. "It will make industry
more transparent. It will allow people to regulate industry at national, regional and local levels."
Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca said Bolivia's traditional indigenous respect
for the Pachamama was vital to prevent climate change. "Our grandparents taught us that we belong
to a big family of plants and animals. We
believe that everything in the planet forms part of a big family. We
indigenous people can contribute to solving the energy, climate,
food and financial crises with our values," he said.
Little opposition is expected to the law being passed
because President Evo
Morales's ruling party, the Movement Towards
Socialism, enjoys a comfortable majority in both houses of parliament.
However, the government must tread a fine line
between increased regulation of companies and giving way
to the powerful social movements who have pressed for the law. Bolivia earns $500m (£305m)
a year from mining companies which provides nearly one third of the country's foreign
currency.
In the indigenous philosophy, the Pachamama is
a living being.
The draft of the new law states: "She is sacred,
fertile and the source of
life that feeds and cares for all living beings
in her womb. She is in permanent balance,
harmony and communication with the cosmos. She is comprised
of all ecosystems and
living beings, and their self-organisation."
Ecuador, which also has powerful indigenous groups, has changed its constitution to give nature
"the right to exist,
persist, maintain and regenerate its vital cycles, structure, functions
and its processes
in evolution". However,
the abstract rights have
not led to new laws or stopped oil companies
from destroying some of the most biologically rich areas of the Amazon.
Bolivia is
struggling to cope with rising temperatures,
melting glaciers and more extreme weather events including more frequent floods, droughts, frosts and mudslides.
Research by glaciologist
Edson Ramirez of San Andres University in the capital city, La Paz, suggests temperatures have been rising steadily for 60 years and started
to accelerate in 1979. They
are now on course to rise a
further 3.5-4C over the next 100 years.
This would turn much of Bolivia into a desert.
Most glaciers below
5,000m are expected to disappear
completely within 20 years, leaving Bolivia with a much smaller
ice cap. Scientists say this will
lead to a crisis in farming and water
shortages in cities such as La Paz and El Alto.
Evo Morales, Latin America's first indigenous president, has become an outspoken critic in the UN of industrialised
countries which are not prepared
to hold temperatures to a
1C rise.