Ecocide law, unlike any other law, has the capacity to disrupt what we perceive to be immoveable. How can we possibly decouple from fossil fuels, from economies based on making money out of heavy extractive industries, from businesses that are threatening to sue governments that refuse to allow them to destroy their lands? This is a question that is voiced in many different ways but the essence of it is always the same — the sense that we are so stuck in a system that we cannot see the way out.
And law holds this system in place. But law is just a tool. Just as a knife can be used to create a delicious meal, so too can it be used to kill. It is the intent behind the tool that counts and that shapes the use of that tool. Words too can be used to express our intent constructively, or they can be used destructively. My dear friend Vandana Shiva was recently attacked verbally and very publically in the press — words were used to slice her up, yet still she stands strong. That takes enormous courage. The intent behind her words is based on a deeply held reverence for the sacredness of life.
The intent behind much of our laws are rarely based on the sacredness of life; all too often our laws are based on the supremacy of ownership and property — "I own" has in many respects superceded the collective right to life. Yet, we are now waking up, blowing the horn. The intent behind law can be changed. Many, like Vandana, are standing up and speaking out. Only the very few benefit from a system based on ownership by a few over the many. Property rights – now used to control seeds and land – lead to much suffering, especially where there is no accountability at the very top. This we are seeing in communities right across the world. Ownership based on destruction can and does lead to significant harm, in particular when it plays out collectively. I am thinking here of transnational corporations and governments who sign-off contracts that bind-in communities without being held to account where significant harm to the wider community results.
The hornblowers of our time are those who stand up and speak out, yet the law as it stands today protects those who are causing the harm. Those who speak out risk the wrath of those who seek to destroy, not those who seek to give support. Now more than ever we have a shrinking democratic space.
Do we fight or do we create a new space? A new space based on life-affirming principles is also a space where we face the harm and give it a name. That takes courage too. When we do that we disrupt the seemingly immoveable. Vandana Shiva is creating a new space — a space based on greater freedom; seed freedom. Ecocide law protects that space and supports those who sound the horn. It closes the door to the destruction of our seeds and also the destruction of our soil and our society. The sacredness of life permeates every aspect of our being and to destroy it is a crime.
Blow that horn – it is being heard. Our vision shifts when can name the harm and when we can envision a better world. By making visible that which must be seen and heard, we can turn and move from Ecocide to Ecolibrium.
Ecolibrium Now
How we make visible our support for something new to emerge takes imagination — our capacity to envision what that world could be. That is something that has led to a group of people in Stroud exploring how they can help seed out and support Ecocide law through the creation of a book. Bringing together artists, illustrators, poets, writers and photographers, a book is now taking shape — called Ecolibrium Now.
But — it is not visible yet.
So much time and energy has been gifted by a great team who are bringing this vision into being. Everything is in place; the next step is to print the book and take it out to the world.
Now is the moment that the Ecolibirum Now team are reaching out for support to the community of all who support Ecocide law: they have a need — the need to pay for the printing. Their costs are higher because it is a book of much beauty, colour, imagery and photos as well as text. Plus, they have chosen a more ecological path — to print on 100% post consumer waste paper with eco-inks (much more difficult to do as most printing is either on regular paper with limited ink use or on FSC paper. To print on 100% post consumer waste means printing in large batch, rather than on demand, which means higher up-front costs).
They have one big wish: to have Ecolibrium Now printed by the 1st of November. To do that they have launched a great crowdfunder — to raise £10,000 by October 12th, 2014.
Ecolibrium Now is a book ready to come into being!
You can help bring to life Ecolibrium Now by pledging funds to the Ecolibrium Now team. And you have a choice: you can receive something in return or you can choose to gift freely. Either way, by gifting funds a new space is created where a vision based on life-affirming principles can begin to take shape.
- To contribute to the creation of this book, please gift here
- Want to read more? Visit ecolibriumnow.com
Something great is happening here — and Ecolibrium Now is an expression of our collective intent. Please help share this vision and reach out to every one around you. In so doing each of us becomes a participant in co-creating Ecolibrium Now.
Further Reading:
- Healthy Planet and the Law of Ecocide – an Interview with Polly Higgins
- Reframing Our Values With the Law of Ecocide (Plus TEDx Video)
