Webinar on the Rights of Nature in Chile – CDER analyzes the rights of nature in the proposed Chilean Constitution

The Center for Democratic and Environmental Rights (CDER) recently participated in a webinar titled: A new ecological Constitution for Chile: A conversation about the constitutional process and its effect on international environmental constitutionalism

Chile is in a historic moment of constitutional transformation: By citizen decision, a Constitutional Convention has been installed for a year, to draft the proposal for a new Constitution. The Constitutional Bill was approved by the Convention, with the rights of nature being included in the proposal. 

CDER recently joined AIDA (Interamerican Association of Environmental Defense) in a webinar to talk with experts who have been involved in the process since its inception. FIMA, a leading Chilean NGO and other local speakers, including a constituent, analyzed the Bill. 

CDER provided a comparative perspective of the Chilean constitutional momentum, focusing on the case of Ecuador, which was the first country to recognize the rights of nature in its Constitution in 2008. CDER’s founders were involved in the development of Ecuador’s constitutional provisions on the rights of nature. Since 2008, they have worked on implementation and enforcement of the Constitution. 

CDER’s Hugo Echeverría highlighted the role of the Constitutional Bill in a global constitutional context, explaining, “If approved, the new Chilean Constitution will be the most modern in the world in shifting the relationship between human beings and nature to one in which we are understood to be part of and dependent on nature, and that protecting the rights of nature is understood to be essential to protecting the natural world. The proposed Constitution includes aspects that no other Constitution does, including climate change and ocean issues. If approved, Chile will position itself as a constitutional model for the 21st Century.”

You can watch the webinar in the video above or at this link.

In September 2022, the Constitutional Bill will be voted on by the people of Chile.  CDER will continue to support the rights of nature being included in what would be the second national constitution to enshrine these rights. 

CDER works on the rights of nature in countries around the world.