Colombia Constitutional Court, Judgment T-622/2016

In one of the most prominent cases in the rights of nature movement, the Constitutional Court of Colombia granted rights to the Atrato River, recognizing it as a subject of rights that imply its protection, conservation, maintenance, and in this specific case restoration. This river runs through one of the most biodiverse regions in the world and has been under pressure from mining and deforestation. Noting the importance of moving beyond a purely anthropocentric perspective of law, the Court stated:

[T]he greatest challenge facing contemporary constitutionalism in environmental matters is to achieve the effective safeguarding and protection of nature, the cultures and ways of life associated with it, and biodiversity, not simply because of the material, genetic, or productive utility they may represent for human beings, but because, as living entities composed of multiple other forms of life and cultural representations, they are subjects of individualizable rights, which makes them a new imperative for comprehensive protection and respect on the part of states and societies. In short, only through an attitude of deep respect and humility towards nature, its components, and its culture is it possible to relate to them in fair and equitable terms, leaving aside any concept that is limited to the merely utilitarian, economic, or efficiency-oriented.

In other words, nature and the environment are a cross-cutting element of the Colombian constitutional order. Their importance lies, of course, in the attention given to the human beings who inhabit them and the need for a healthy environment in order to lead a dignified life in conditions of well-being, but also in relation to the other living organisms with whom we share the planet, understood as beings deserving of protection in themselves. It is a matter of being aware of the interdependence that connects us to all living beings on earth; that is, recognizing ourselves as integral parts of the global ecosystem—the biosphere—rather than based on normative categories of domination, simple exploitation, or utility. This position is particularly relevant in Colombian constitutionalism, given the principle of cultural and ethnic pluralism that underpins it, as well as the ancestral knowledge, customs, and traditions inherited from indigenous and tribal peoples. […]

Id. at para. 5.10.

The Court also recognized for the first time biocultural rights, which result from the deep and intrinsic relationship between nature, its resources, and the culture of the ethnic and indigenous communities that inhabit it. This case is emblematic because it is based on the ecocentric approach, which means that nature is the subject of rights and must be recognized by States. The judgment declares the existence of a serious violation of the fundamental rights to life, health, water, food security, a healthy environment, culture, and territory of the ethnic communities inhabiting the Atrato River basin and its tributaries, all attributable to the Colombian state entities sued. In addition, the Court recognizes the Atrato River, its basin, and tributaries as an entity subject to rights, protection, conservation, maintenance, and restoration by the State, ultimately ordering the decontamination of the river, among other measures.

While the Atrato River case is an important rights of rivers cases, there have since been several more cases in Colombia where courts have held that rivers are holders of rights. Lower courts throughout Colombia have applied the Constitutional Court’s precedent on the Atrato River, and now the Cauca River, Magdalena River, the Coello, Combeima, and Cocora Rivers, and the La Plata River have all been granted rights by Colombian courts.

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