Summary
In 2017, the Earth Law Center drafted a Universal Declaration of River Rights which recognizes that rivers are living entities and are entitled to fundamental rights. The Earth Law Center drafted the declaration after the successes of river rights in New Zealand and Columbia. The declaration said recognizing rights of nature “will foster the creation of a new legal and social paradigm based on living in harmony with nature and respecting both the rights of nature and human rights, particularly with reference to the urgent needs of Indigenous communities and the ecosystems they have long protected.”