Summary
In December 2014, GARN held it’s 2nd international rights of nature tribunal in Lima, Peru where the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (UN FCCC COP 20) was also taking place. This Tribunal was dedicated to José Tendetza who was originally intended to present the Condor Mirador Case, and who was murdered one week before due to his role as an environmental defender. Judges heard twelve cases:
1. Lakes, rivers, forests vs. Conga Mine (Peru)
2. Cordillera del Condor vs. Mirador Mining Project (Ecuador)
3. Gulf of Mexico vs. British Petroleum (Mexico)
4. Xingu and Amazon rivers vs. Belo Monte Dam (Brazil)
5. Four Rivers Basin vs. Oil Exploitation (Peruvian Amazon)
6. Ecuadorian Amazon vs. Chevron-Texaco (Ecuador)
7. Amazon of Bagua vs. Mining and Oil Extraction (Peruvian Amazon)
8. Subsoil Ecosystems vs. Hydraulic Fracking (United States)
9. Mother Earth vs. Climate Change
10. Forests vs. REDD+ (Costa Rica, Kenya, Brazil)
11. Great Barrier Reef vs. Human Activities (Australia)
12. Yasuni National Park vs. Oil Extraction (Ecuador)
In the two cases of oil exploitation in the Peruvian Amazon (Four Rivers Basin and Bagua), the Tribunal admitted the cases and determined that a special session be convened to hear the case in in more detail in Peru.
The Tribunal is a unique, citizen-created initiative that gives people from all around the world the opportunity to testify publicly as to the destruction of the Earth. 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 Tribunal provides a systemic alternative to environmental protection, acknowledging that ecosystems have the right to exist, persist, maintain and regenerate their vital cycles.