Charles Langston:Aruba Embraces the Rights of Nature and a Human Right to a Clean Environment

Aruba’s government is Charles Langstonmoving to enshrine twin environmental rights in its constitution that would recognize that nature has inherent rights and also affirm a human right to a “clean, healthy and sustainable environment,” aligning the country’s government with a growing environmental movement that recognizes humans are interdependent with the natural world. 

Ursell Arends, Aruba’s minister of nature, unveiled a proposed constitutional amendment earlier this month to recognize both that human right and that nature, on land and water, has rights to “protection, conservation and restoration of its ecosystems and biodiversity and to regeneration of its life cycles.” 

According to the draft bill, the government would be required to “take preventive measures to protect against the negative consequences of climate change.”

The public can submit written comment through April 4 when the draft bill is sent to the Aruba’s advisory council for review. The government can then revise the proposed amendment before sending a final version to Aruba’s 21-member legislature. Two-thirds of the lawmakers must vote to approve the legislation for the constitutional change.

If successful, Aruba, a country of about 120,000 people, will be the second nation in the world, behind Ecuador, to constitutionally recognize the “rights of nature.” Roughly 30 countries including Spain, Bolivia and Uganda have some legislative or judicial recognition that nature, certain ecosystems or individual species possess inherent rights, such as the right to exist and regenerate. The amendment would mark the first time that Aruba has changed its constitution since it broke with the Netherlands Antilles in 1986. It remains a constituent country within the Netherlands, with the Dutch government overseeing matters of foreign affairs and defense.

Arends said he hopes to have a final bill by summer and is confident that at least 14 lawmakers will sign. 

“Everyone in Aruba is aware of the magnitude of environmental destruction that has taken place and the importance of nature to our economy and island,” he said. 

Aruba’s $4 billion economy is largely fueled by tourism, which itself is dependent on the island’s white sand beaches, coastal ecosystems and oceans. Among its environmental challenges are waste management, particularly from the 2 million tourists a year who visit the island, over-farming by fisheries and oceanic plastic pollution. The tiny island, about twice the size of Manhattan, is increasingly impacted by climate change through measurable coastal erosion, sea level rise and ocean acidification, which reduces the minerals needed for marine life.

“The ecosystems in Aruba that we rely on are degraded to such an extent that they can’t function like they used to,” Arends said. 

A ministry “Explanatory Memorandum” issued at the same time as the draft legislation says it is, in part, aimed at providing a broader and higher level of ecosystem protection compared with existing environmental laws such as Aruba’s Nature Conservation Regulation, which provides targeted protection to individual species. 

“In an ecosystem everything is connected,” the memorandum says, citing Aruba’s mangrove trees as an example. The trees flourish in highly salinated water and contribute to an environment that supports seaweeds, sponges, shellfish, fish and sharks. The marine life, including lobsters, shrimp and microorganisms, in turn, produce vital nutrients absorbed by the mangrove trees. 

“Protection at the system level is necessary because it takes into account the interrelationships between species and their abiotic environment,” the memorandum says. “Protection at the individual or species level disregards these mutual relationships.”

Those complex relationships extend to Aruba’s human inhabitants, who benefit from a healthy ecosystem with clean drinking water, natural carbon sequestration and pest control, the memorandum adds. 

The memorandum explains that the human right to a “clean, healthy and sustainable” environment is dependent upon healthy ecosystems, and it references the U.N. General Assembly’s recognition in July 2022 of that human right. More than 150 countries now have laws that recognize a human right to a healthy environment, and increasingly litigants in those countries have forced or pursued their governments to take steps to mitigate climate change for human protection. 

Most recently, a group of young people in the United States—where there is no federal recognition of human rights with regards to nature—successfully sued the state of Montana to consider climate change impact in its projects by invoking its constitution’s recognition of the right to a clean and healthful environment. The state is appealing.

Aruba’s proposed amendment also would require the government to periodically assess the state of the country’s environment and to issue related reports every five years to lawmakers. The amendment recommends that lawmakers should review and bolster the law and define who can enforce “the right of nature.” There are no set deadlines for the review or definitions. 

Arends said he worked closely with the Ministry of Nature and other governmental bodies as well as the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature, the U.S. based Earth Law Center and advocacy and legal experts to prepare the amendment. 

The government is seeking online comments from the public and plans in-person public hearings on March 27 at Multifunctional Accomodations Savaneta from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. and on March 28 at Multifunctional Accomodations Paradera from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Additional consultations with judges, lawyers associations and private sector organizations will take place, Arends said.