- The constitutions of Pan Amazon countries contain at least one article on the state’s obligation to protect the environment.
- Brazil’s 1988 Constitution was the first in the Pan Amazon to include access to a healthy environment as a basic human right.
- Ecuador constitutionally recognizes the rights of nature or of Mother Earth (Pachamama).
One unusual characteristic of Latin American nations is their proclivity to adopt new constitutions that reflect periodic swings in political philosophies. These documents are notable for their length and the proliferation of sections addressing specific issues. Pan Amazon nations have relatively recent constitutions, and all have at least one article that obligates the state to protect the environment. Guyana (1980) and Suriname (1987) still use the constitutions adopted following their independence, which provide a brief statement assigning the state the ‘duty’ to protect [or improve] the environment. Similarly, the now-defunct constitutions of Ecuador (1978) and Peru (1979), written following military rule, committed the state to protecting the environment; following the traditions of constitutional jurisprudence, however, these constitutional iterations left the details to the legislature.
Brazil’s 1988 constitution was radically different. It includes ten articles that address nature conservation or environmental management – a thematic focus that is surpassed only by provisions detailing the federal governance structure. More importantly, it was the first country in the Pan Amazon to include access to a healthy environment as a basic human right. The national charter of Colombia of 1991 is similarly detailed, with seventeen articles mentioning rights and responsibilities linked to natural resource management and environmental protection. Peru’s 1993 constitution is less specific, but it identifies environmental management as a core government function.
Venezuela’s 1999 constitution is radically different from those of Peru, Colombia and Brazil, because it lays out the framework for a socialist state, but it is not substantially different on environmental issues.
The constitutions of Ecuador (2008) and Bolivia (2009) represent another radical change in constitutional law. Not only do they include a phenomenal number of provisions that are typically the domain of legislation (land, water, air, forests, and biodiversity), but they also legalize the relationship between culture and the environment. Ecuador’s is the most emphatic, stating that Mother Nature (Pachamama) has rights that must be honored by human society.
Banner image: Logging activity in the Brazilian state of Rondônia. Image courtesy of Vicente Sampaio/Imaflora.
“A Perfect Storm in the Amazon” is a book by Timothy Killeen and contains the author’s viewpoints and analysis. The second edition was published by The White Horse in 2021, under the terms of a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).
To read earlier chapters of the book, find Chapter One here, Chapter Two here, Chapter Three here, Chapter Four here, Chapter Five here y Chapter Six here.
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