Leveraging Earth Law Principles to Protect Ocean Rights

November 2023
Citation:
53
ELR 10838A
Issue
11
Author
Nadine Nadow, Hayley-Bo Dorrian-Bak, and Eleanor Maloney

Communities around the world are seeking to acknowledge nature’s rights through legal tools and litigation. This Article provides an overview of recent developments in earth law movements, including Rights of Nature, Rights of Rivers, and Ocean Rights, and considers the potential impacts these ecocentric conservation measures could have on Indigenous peoples and local communities. It summarizes the three most prominent methods of navigating these movements, and highlights the ways in which each method may serve to promote earth law, while continuing to consider small-scale communities that depend upon natural resources.

Nadine Nadow is an attorney and an LL.M. candidate at Lewis & Clark Law School. Hayley-Bo Dorrian-Bak is an International Biodiversity Advisor for the Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Eleanor Maloney is an Associate Attorney at Homer Law, Chtd.

Article File