To most of us, nature is an object or a resource. A thing. But since 2008, the Constitution of Ecuador has declared that nature has rights. And last year, nature won its first case in court. 

Hugo Echeverria is a lawyer who refers to nature as “she.” He does this to show respect to indigenous peoples and to signal his alliance with their respect for the Earth. In indigenous cultures, nature is a being, not a thing. Echeverria has been nature’s voice in court, arguing on her behalf against powerful adversaries who see nature only as a resource to be exploited. 

In this episode, Hugo discusses  the rights-of-nature global movement and its part in the public agenda. As he says in our interview with Kirsty Lang, “the battle begins now, because the rights of nature were not taken seriously by anybody other than the ecologist in Ecuador. Now, the rights of nature have begun to be taken seriously by everybody, including the economic sector, and they are upset, they are concerned. And let's see how they react.”

In 2008, Ecuador became the first country in the world to recognize the legal rights of nature. In 2017, Columbia granted legal personhood to the Atrato River. As of March 2021, the rights of nature have been included in the Constitution of Bolivia, and applied in the courts of Colombia and India.  

Planet v. Profit is a podcast from Global Witness that holds power to account. Join us every month for new episodes as we take you into the heart of our investigations. Find all episodes of Planet v. Profit on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, as well as on the Global Witness website and wherever you like to listen to podcasts. To stay up-to-date with all of our work, you can also join our mailing list, and follow us on Twitter and Instagram. 

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