"A draft now being debated, which must be completed by July 5 and ratified in a national vote before September, would recognize the climate crisis and guarantee the rights of nature and animals."

"Chile’s constitutional convention, underway in Santiago since July 4, 2021, is the first time a country has re-written its foundational document in the wake of the Paris Agreement and comes as the world reckons with three interconnected environmental crises: climate change, biodiversity loss and toxic pollution.

With most of the 155 delegates being either left-leaning or independent, environmentalists are hoping the convention will seize the moment and enshrine an array of environmental rights and obligations to create a so-called “ecological constitution,” similar to the constitutions of neighboring Ecuador and Bolivia.

Among the concepts already approved for inclusion in the convention’s draft constitution are the rights of nature (the idea that ecosystems have legal rights to exist and regenerate), the rights of animals to live free from abuse and human rights to environmental information and participation in environmental decision making. The draft also includes recognition that the climate crisis is a consequence of human activity, and the recognition of the government’s duty to promote efforts to mitigate and face the climate crisis."

Katie Surma reports for Inside Climate News April 3, 2022. [2]