In an article titled The Law of Mother Earth: Behind Bolivia’s Historic Bill Nick Buxton looks at the difficulties the historic law change in Bolivia will have to overcome if the intention of bringing in a different system that respects the environment in which we live is going to be successfully transformed into reality.
“The law would give nature legal rights, specifically the rights to life and regeneration, biodiversity, water, clean air, balance, and restoration. Bolivia’s law mandates a fundamental ecological reorientation of Bolivia’s economy and society, requiring all existing and future laws to adapt to the Mother Earth law and accept the ecological limits set by nature. It calls for public policy to be guided by Sumaj Kawsay (an indigenous concept meaning “living well,” or living in harmony with nature and people), rather than the current focus on producing more goods and stimulating consumption.
In practical terms, the law requires the government to transition from non-renewable to renewable energy; to develop new economic indicators that will assess the ecological impact of all economic activity; to carry out ecological audits of all private and state companies; to regulate and reduce greenhouse gas emissions; to develop policies of food and renewable energy sovereignty; to research and invest resources in energy efficiency, ecological practices, and organic agriculture; and to require all companies and individuals to be accountable for environmental contamination with a duty to restore damaged environments.”
Today’s economic realities which include a dominance of raw material extractive industry as well as opposition of those who are making their living from those industries are going to be serious barriers to actually putting the new law into effect, once it will be approved.
“… there is a great deal of opposition from powerful sectors, particularly mining and agro-industrial enterprises, to any ecological laws that would threaten profits. The main organization of soya producers, which claimed that the law “will make the productive sector inviable,” is one of many powerful groups who have already come out against the law. Within the government, there are many ministries and officials that would also like the law to remain nothing more than a visionary but ultimately meaningless statement.”
While the political situation in Bolivia has provided the right conditions for drafting and pushing a law that is nothing less than revolutionary, the problem is not limited to Bolivia. Ultimately, we all have to choose. Do we want to continue to disregard the environment in which we live and see it as a ready-made pool of resources from which we can take whatever we want and into which we can release any kind of pollution we wish or do we finally recognize that we are part of a planetary eco-system that is tolerant to abuse, but not entirely unresponsive to what e do to it. It really is our own survival that is at stake. So perhaps we should give the Bolivian farmers the cheers and the support they deserve for their farsighted proposals.
Ultimately, though, this is a challenge far bigger than Bolivia, says Prada: “Our ecological and social crisis is not just a problem for Bolivia or Ecuador; it is a problem for all of us. We need to pull together peoples, researchers, and communities to develop real concrete alternatives so that the dominant systems of exploitation don’t just continue by default. This is not an easy task, but I believe with international solidarity, we can and must succeed.”