Summary
In 2017, GARN held an international rights of nature tribunal in Bonn, Germany. Judges heard six cases: Almeria – Water Deprivation, Climate Change Case, Defenders of Nature and Mother Earth Case, Lignite mining in the Hambach forest, Tipnis Case, and Trade agreements and their implications on nature. The citizens’ tribunal served as a model for how courts could operate under rights of nature laws, specifically the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth. Each verdict recognized that rights of nature were violated and called upon various agencies to recognize rights of nature. The judges have yet to deliver an available judgment on Trade agreements and their implications on nature.