Draft:Earth Law Center

Earth Law Center (ELC) is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization specializing in a novel and emerging legal paradigm entitled Earth law, also known as ecocentric law. Headquartered in Durango, Colorado, ELC has team members and programs around the US and in Latin America, Europe, and Africa. The center champions Earth law internationally through the establishment and defense of policy predicated on the interconnectedness of humans and nature, most prominently the movement for rights of nature.

Established in 2008, ELC was founded on the guiding principles of Thomas Berry’s introduction of “Earth Jurisprudence” in 1999, as well as Cormac McCullinan’s Wild Law: A Manifesto for Earth Justice. Four years after it was founded by Sister Patricia Siemen, OP, with a grant from the Adrian Dominican Sisters, ELC was a co-drafter of Santa Monica’s Sustainability Bill of Rights Ordinance. Former executive director Linda Sheehan taught the first ever law school course on Earth law, which took place at the University of Vermont. With Earth Law: Emerging Ecocentric Law, in 2020, ELC staffers edited and helped author the first coursebook on the topic. In 2022, the center helped draft national legislation on the rights of nature in Panama that was signed into law. The organization also helped create the first ever board seat for nature, at the UK company Faith in Nature. In 2023, the center supported the drafting of ten proclamations recognizing the rights of Southern Resident Orcas in municipalities in Washington, Oregon, and California.

With numerous campaigns ranging from diverse projects in Latin America to conserving Balkan rivers and reinterpreting animal law, the center aims to change the current environmental legal framework through engagement with Earth law movements such as the preservation and restoration of Indigenous environmental rights and environmental personhood. ELC also runs an education program, seeking to disseminate information on Earth law to students, lawyers, and policy specialists through its coursebook and annual summer course.