"A draft constitutional amendment would make the Caribbean nation the second country in the world to recognize that nature has the right to exist."

"Aruba’s government is moving 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.”"

Katie Surma reports for Inside Climate News March 25, 2024. [2]