Science and Technology Production
The Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador: Pachamama Has Rights

Article

Date
2015
Publishing House and Editing Place
Rachel Carson Center and the European Society for Environmental History
Magazine
Arcadia Rachel Carson Center and the European Society for Environmental History
Summary Information provided by the agent in SIGEVA
Nature has recently been recognized as a subject rather than an object of rights in some Latin American countries. This is the case in Bolivia, on a legal level, and in Ecuador, on a constitutional level. This kind of recognition is relevant because, after decades of juridical, legal, and ethical debates about whether rights should be extended beyond human beings, today it is, at last, a reality. Although discussions about the juridical and moral status of nature, animals, plants, and inanimate... Nature has recently been recognized as a subject rather than an object of rights in some Latin American countries. This is the case in Bolivia, on a legal level, and in Ecuador, on a constitutional level. This kind of recognition is relevant because, after decades of juridical, legal, and ethical debates about whether rights should be extended beyond human beings, today it is, at last, a reality. Although discussions about the juridical and moral status of nature, animals, plants, and inanimate aspects of nature are not yet over, this new legal system acknowledges that nature, known as Pachamama in the Quichua and Aimara indigenous languages, has rights.
Show more Show less
Key Words
DERECHOS PACHAMAMAÉTICA AMBIENTALECUADOR