Implementing Nature's Rights in Colombia: The Atrato and Amazon Experiences
| Autor | Whitney Richardson, Camila Bustos |
| Cargo | Independent Researcher. un Harmony with Nature Expert. jd Candidate at Chicago Kent Law School. e-mail: whitney@earthlaw.org; orcid id: 0000-0003-2538-4242. / jd, Yale Law School. Associate in Human Rights Practice at the University Network for Human Rights & Visiting Assistant Professor of Human Rights at Trinity College. e-mail: camilabustos9... |
| Páginas | 227-275 |
Revista Derecho del Estado n.º 54, enero-abril de 2023, pp. 227-275
WHITNEY RICHARDSON*
CAMI LA BUSTO S**
Implementing Nature’s Rights
in Colombia: The Atrato
and Amazon Experiences
Implementando los derechos de la
naturaleza en Colombia: las experiencias
del Atrato y el Amazonas***-****
ABSTRACT
Nature’s rights approaches are being developed as an alternative legal means
to enable justice for nature and, oftentimes, humans, too. This study examines
Colombia’s two seminal court-ordered nature’s rights approaches which recog-
nize ecosystems—the Atrato River Basin (2016) and the Colombian Amazon
(2018)—as a legal sub ject wit h right s to pr otectio n, main tenance, conser va-
tion, and restoration. Developed as remedies for human rights violations, both
cases offer opportunities to explore variations in nature’s rights approaches
and the relationsh ip between efforts to enable justice for humans and nature.
We bui ld on ex isti ng sc hola rly en gage ment w ith th e cas es by con tri but ing
a detailed archival study on their implementation complemented by a few
* Independent Researcher. UN Har mony wit h Nat ur e Exp er t. JD Candidate at Chicago
Kent Law School. e-m ail: whitney@earth law.org; ORCID ID: 0000-0003-2538-4242.
** JD, Yale Law School. Associate in Human Rights Pr actice at the University Net-
work for Human Rights & Visiting Ass istant Professo r of Human Rights at Tri nity College.
e-mail: camilabustos93@gmail.com Camila is one of the pla intiffs in the Ama zon litigation
discussed. ORCID ID: 0000-0002-3588-2299.
*** Recibido el 31 de agos to de 2021, aprobado el 2 de agosto de 2022.
Para citar el artículo: Richardson, W. y Bustos, C. Implement ing Nature’s Rights in
Colombia: The Atrato and Amazon Experiences. En Revista Derecho del Estado, Universidad
Externado de Colombia. N.º 54, enero-abril de 2023, 227-275.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.18601/01229893.n54.08
**** Este artículo se basa en una investigación realizada para una tesis de maestría a
la que puede acceder el público, pero que no se publicó anteriormente, en: ht tps://nmbu.
brage.unit.no/nmbu-xmlui/bitstream/handle/11250/2678898/Richardson_MIESThesis_2020.
pdf?sequence=1 Part e del cont eni do ha sido act ual iza do pa ra s u pub lica ción en e sta r evis ta.
Whitney Richardson, Camila Bustos
Revista Derecho del Estado n.º 54, enero-abril de 2023, pp. 227-275
228
interviews with key actors, as well as by evaluating implementation of the
rulings using environmental and ecological justice frameworks to determine
to what degree they have enabled justice for humans and nature to date. We
argue that the At rato River Basin and Colombian Amazon nat ure’s rights
approaches currently fall short of their aims to enable justice for both humans
and nature. Thus far, interpretation and implementation of the rulings have
yet to fulfi ll cour t orders and, in some cas es, have pe rpetuated injust ices.
KEYWORDS
Nature’s rights, climate change, ecological justice, environmental justice,
strategic litigation, Colombian Amazon, Atrato R iver, Colombia.
RESUMEN
Los enfoques de los derechos de la nat uraleza se está n desarrollando como
un medio legal alternativo para permitir la justicia para la naturaleza y, a
menudo, también para los humanos. Este estudio examina los dos enfoques
fundamentales de los derechos de la naturaleza ordenados por los tribunales
de Colombia que reconocen los ecosistemas, la cuenca del río Atrato (2016)
y la Amazonía colombiana (2018), como un sujeto legal con derechos de
protección, mantenimiento, conservación y restauración. Desarrollados
como remedios para las violaciones de los derechos humanos, ambos casos
ofrecen oportunidades para explorar variaciones en los en foques de los
derechos de la naturaleza y la relación entre los esfuerzos para hacer posible
la justicia para los humanos y la naturaleza. Nos basa mos en el compromiso
académico existente con los casos al contribuir con un estudio de archivo
detallado sobre su implementación, complementado con algunas entrevistas
con actores clave, así como al evaluar la implementación de los fallos utili-
zando marcos de justicia ambiental y ecológica para determinar hasta qué
punto. han permitido la justicia para los humanos y la naturaleza hasta la
fecha. A rgumentamos que los en foques de los derechos de la natura leza de
la cuenca del río Atrato y la Amazonía colombiana actualmente no alcan-
zan sus objetivos de permitir la justicia tanto para los humanos como para
la naturaleza. Hasta el momento, la interpretación y la implementación de
las sentencias aún no han hecho posible la justicia y, en algunos casos, han
perpetuado las injusticias. de las sentencias aún no han hecho posible la
justicia y, en algunos casos, han perpetuado las injusticias.
Implementing Nature’s Rights in Colombia: The Atrato and Amazon Experiences
Revista Derecho del Estado n.º 54, enero-abril de 2023, pp. 227-275
229
PAL ABR AS CL AVE
Derechos de la naturaleza, cambio climático, justicia ecológica, justicia
ambiental, litigio estratégico, Amazonía colombiana, río de Atrato, Colombia.
SUMMA RY
Introduction. 1. Theory: to enable justice for humans and nature. 1.1. Envi-
ronmental justice. 1.2. Ecological justice. 1.3. Coalescing environmental
and ecological justice theories. 2. Emergence of nature’s rights in Colombia.
2.1. The Atrato River Basin, 2016. 2.2. T he Colombian Amazon, 2018. 3.
Contributing and impeding factors following the issuance of the rulings. 3.1.
Following the Atrato ruling. 3.2. Following the Amazon ruling. 4. Compara-
tive analysis of the Atrato and Amazon cases. 4.1. The Atrato approach as a
promising blueprint, if actualized. 4.2. Today’s Colombian Amazon approach
as a threat multiplier. 5. Discussion: Justice for humans and nature bou nd in
a politics of neglect. Conclusion. References.
INTRODUCTION
Alternative legal approaches to protect nature and humans dependent on
its stability have developed out of a sense of urgency as most legislation
worldwi de has been deemed insuf ficient1 to stop rampant ecological dete-
rioration.2 Many scholars have argued that mainstream environmental law
has given (some) humans the right to exploit nature to their sole advantage
and ignore ecological limits.3 Nature’s rights approaches recognize nature
1 UNEP. Environmental Rule of Law: First Global Report, 2019, 3 y 8.
2 Barcan, R. The Campaign for Legal Personhood for the Great Barrier Reef: Fin-
ding Political and Pedagogical Value in the Spectacular Failure of Care. In Nature and
Space. 2019, 1-23; United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP). Environmental Rule of
Law: First Global Report. 2019; Earth Law Center. 2016 Update: Fig hting for Ou r Shared
Future: Prote cting Both Hu man Rights & N ature’s Rights. 2016; Voigt, C. (ed.). A Rule of
Law for Nature: New Dimensions and Ideas in Environmental Law. Cambridge: Cambridge
Universit y Press, 2013; Falk, R. The Second Cycle of Ecological Urgency: An Environmental
Justice Perspective. In Environmental Law & Justice in Context. Cambridge: Cambridge
Universit y Press, 20 09.
3 Gordon, G. Environmental Personhood. In Columbia Jour nal of Environmental
Law. No. 43, 2018, 49-91; Voigt (ed.). A Rule of Law for Nature, cit.; Burdon, P. D. A Theory
of Earth Jurisprudence. I n Australian Journal of Legal Philosophy. No. 37, 2012, 28-60;
Stone, C. Should Trees Have Standing: Law, Morality, and the Environment. New York:
Oxford University Press, 2010; Wood, M. C. Nature’s Trust: A Legal, Political, and Moral
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