Join Us in Ceremony for the Nature's Rights Bill

‍In the palace of Westminster, a bill is presented for a second reading under the gothic vaulted ceiling of stone that keeps the rising temperatures outside at bay.

In advance of such a reading members who wish to contribute to the discussion place their names on a ‘speakers list’. Lords shift a little on the red leather benches waiting their turn.

But for this bill, more beings than these humans wish to speak.

Maybe the first is a tiny green shoot of an oak tree bursting through stone and carpet. Or the blackbird circling overhead creating a ‘singers list’ of his own. Or the river running in from the West babbling her own pre-prepared water words. Or the air themselves - truly non partisan moving from lung to lung of each human whatever their affiliation. Or the mycelium creeping up carved wood. Or the bear in the speakers chair...or the sea...or the badgers...or the salmon...or the buzzard...or the trembling soil and stone…the sound becoming overwhelming as more and more voices speak...

Nature rising and flowing through the process, reminding the humans they are nature too…

Nature’s Rights Bill Introduced

Photo from Nature’s Rights (Cinergy Studios), June 2026, when the Bill was introduced in the UK Parliament

Earlier this year, Natalie Bennet, Green Party member of the House of Lords introduced a private members bill for ‘Nature’s Rights’. Inspired by a growing number of international examples (often rooted in indigenous ways of understanding the world) and developed with lawyers, politicians, charities, campaigns and communities.

Sacred Earth Activism has supported the journey of this Bill from its earliest stages, holding ceremony and prayer for its success and in support of the wider movement seeking to recognise and protect the rights of the natural world.

After a first reading (which introduces the bill) it now progresses to a second reading where it can be discussed and debated and hopefully continue the process all the way to be sent to the House of Commons and beyond into law.

And what would it do? The opening text states:

This is a bill to recognise Nature as a legal subject; establish and protect the rights of Nature; establish a legal duty of care for public bodies, businesses, and individuals; provide procedural rights for the protection of Nature; establish an Integrated Rights Framework; establish mechanisms for dispute resolution and legal enforcement; establish a Nature Guardianship Council and Bioregional Councils; establish a Nature’s Rights Tribunal; create a governance structure for implementation and integration; provide for phased implementation and periodic review; ensure compliance with international environmental obligations; promote public awareness and education; and for connected purposes.

‍ And the bill goes on to outline a bold statement of rights:

‍ Rights of Nature
(1) ‍Nature has the following inherent rights—
(a) ‍the right to exist, persist and evolve within safe ecological limits;
(b) the right to maintain and regenerate ecological integrity;
(c) the right to restoration and regeneration where harm has occurred;
(d)‍ the right to be free from pollution, contamination and degradation that threatens ecological integrity, resilience or health;‍‍
(e)‍ the right to maintain natural cycles, functions and processes, including hydrological, climatic, geological, soil, nutrient, reproductive, evolutionary and ecological processes;
(f) the right to maintain ecological connectivity, diversity, abundance and ‍resilience.

And how these rights would be established and protected in law.

Letters to the Earth

‍At the ‘Climate Open House’ at The Globe Theatre on the 21st of June, Rights of Nature founder, the lawyer and campaigner Mumta Ito contributed to readings on the stage organised by storytelling organisation Letters to the Earth. Her powerful letter reached out to nature asking for their collaboration and support of the bill and the work to create a legal framework for a regenerative future. Mumta’s letter closed with:

Dear Earth,
breathe through this Bill.
Breathe through our courage.
Breathe through the law of this land.
Until the law of this land remembers what every child, river, forest and seed already knows:
Life comes first.

‍We encourage you to look into the great work Letters To The Earth are doing internationally and the Globe’s exciting Climate Playwriting Prize.

‍‍Nature’s Rights Online Ceremony

Mumta has invited us to weave ceremony to support the journey of the bill, and we will begin this on Thursday the 2nd of July, the night before the Second reading takes place.

‍We invite you to join us online as we gather in solidarity and ceremony with Nature and with all those working to bring about a more respectful and reciprocal relationship with the living world.

This will be a simple ceremonial space where we will call to and invite the spirits of Nature to join us, and support us in offering our intentions for the positive journey of the Bill. We will hold a shared vision for a future in which rivers, forests, mountains, ecosystems, and the wider community of life are recognised as having their own inherent rights and value.

As part of the ceremony, we invite you to bring:

• A candle
• A witness from the Earth, such as a leaf, feather, flower, stone, seed, or other item gathered respectfully from the land, with permission asked before bringing it into the ceremony
• A short Letter to Nature, in the form of a letter, prayer, poem, song, invocation, etc., expressing your hopes, prayers, gratitude, or intentions around the Bill's success. During the gathering there will be an opportunity for participants to share from their letters.

Date: Thursday 2nd July
Time: 7:00pm (UK Time)
Location: Online via Zoom

All are warmly welcome to join us. You can find out more information and book to join the free event here:

‍ Letters to Nature

Along the rest of the bill’s journey we would also like to invite you to write your letter to nature, film yourself reading it and share them with us online to spread the message about the bill and to call out to nature to join us in this work for our futures.

Please feel free to tag us, or send to us, at @sacredearthactivism, and we will be sharing these throughout the course of the bills readings at the House of Lords and beyond.

We are Nature - part of the interdependent web of life. When Nature thrives, we thrive.
‍ -Nature’s Rights: Law For A Living World

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