County officials grant 'nature' equal rights to humans

Milwaukee County officials last month passed a resolution granting the county’s waterways and bodies of water equal rights to mankind.

While the resolution is the first of its kind in Wisconsin, it is part of a larger, United Nations-backed movement called the Rights of Nature (RoN) which equates the environment to humans in the name of “climate change.”

In their resolution, Milwaukee officials cited the county’s “bold plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and improve climate resiliency,” as well as its efforts “to create Climate Tasks Forces protecting the region’s environment and reduce greenhouse emissions thereby achieving environmental equity.”

In addition, the resolution aims to align with “Native and Indigenous Communities” — such as the Menominee, Potawatomi, and Ho-Chunk Tribes — who have recognized “the inherent rights of the Menominee River to flourish and naturally exist.”

Therefore, Milwaukee County officials have adopted a “rights of nature” policy to protect the environment from “human activity.” In the resolution, a phrase clarifying that the rights of nature policy is “symbolic in nature” has been crossed out to make clear that it is actual. 

“This effort recognizes the legal rights of natural areas & waterways to exist & thrive without interference from human activity,” said Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley. “It’s important for us to appreciate the outdoor environment that Milwaukee County resides on and acknowledge the Indigenous people whose deep relationships with these lands pre-date our own.”

RoN is recognized in 24 countries around the world including Ecuador, Bolivia, New Zealand, Colombia, Bangladesh, India, Uganda, Canada, and Spain. While the recognition takes various legal forms, the resulting effect is that citizens can face legal action for pollution and governments may now have a legal basis to restrict access to natural resources.

Efforts are underway to create a global law recognizing the rights of nature. Since 2012 the International Union for Conservation of Nature, an international observer organization at the UN General Assembly, has been calling for a Universal Declaration of the Rights of Nature “as a first step towards reconciliation between human beings and the Earth as the basis of our lives, as well as the foundations of a new civilizing pact.”