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Let’s hear it for Aruba! “Aruba’s government is moving to enshrine twin environmental rights in its constitution that would recognize that nature has inherent rights" and also affirm a human right to a “clean, healthy and sustainable environment,” aligning the country’s government with a growing environmental movement that recognizes humans are interdependent with the natural world.” 

Aruba’s minister of nature, Ursell Arends presented a proposed constitutional amendment recognizing that BOTH humans AND nature have rights on land and water to “protection, conservation and restoration of its ecosystems and biodiversity and to regeneration of its life cycles.” According to Mr. Arends draft bill, the Aruban government would have to “take preventive measures to protect against the negative consequences of climate change.”

So why is this such good news and so important? In one of our earliest articles entitled “the relationship between humanity and nature: explore the philosophies [11/07/2022], we discussed the different philosophies humans have regarding the relationship between humans and nature. At one end of the spectrum is anthropocentrism – the belief that humanity is the central and most important entity in the universe and is separate from, and superior to nature. That kind of thinking is not going to do much to help our environment. At the other end of the spectrum is ecocentrism – placing value and importance on the entire environment and all life in it, not just the parts that are useful to humans. We need many more people to recognize that nature is NOT separate from, and inferior to nature.

The people in Aruba have a much deeper perspective about what is happening to their country and in other parts of the world. They know everything in an ecosystem is connected. They understand that mangrove trees “flourish in highly salinated water and contribute to an environment that supports seaweeds, sponges, shellfish, fish and sharks. The marine life, including lobsters, shrimp and microorganisms, in turn, produce vital nutrients absorbed by the mangrove trees.” They also are aware “of the magnitude of environmental destruction that has taken place and the importance of nature to [the] economy and island.” “The ecosystems in Aruba that we rely on are degraded to such an extent that they can’t function like they used to,” Arends said. 

“Aruba’s $4 billion economy is largely fueled by tourism, which itself is dependent on the island’s white sand beaches, coastal ecosystems and oceans. Among its environmental challenges are waste management, particularly from the 2 million tourists a year who visit the island, over-farming by fisheries and oceanic plastic pollution. The tiny island, about twice the size of Manhattan, is increasingly impacted by climate change through measurable coastal erosion, sea level rise and ocean acidification, which reduces the minerals needed for marine life.” “If successful, Aruba, a country of about 120,000 people, will be the second nation in the world, behind Ecuador, to constitutionally recognize the “rights of nature.”

We wish Aruba the best in securing enough votes to amend its constitution, and we hope many other countries are watching.

Source:

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/25032024/aruba-rights-of-nature/