What if nature had legal rights? In this episode of Voice of Commons, host Giulia Foscari speaks with environmental lawyer Cormac Cullinan - founder of the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature and the Wild Law Institute - about rethinking legal systems to recognize nature as a rights-bearing entity. From the courtroom to the cryosphere, we explore how the Rights of Nature movement is reshaping global environmental governance, and what justice could look like for the Global Commons -including Antarctica, the Ocean, the Atmosphere, and Outer Space.

In closing, we share a powerful reflection from ecologist and activist Carola Rackete - Member of the European Parliament and of the Antarctic Rights Alliance - recorded live at the launch of the Antarctica Declaration at the Voice of Commons Planetary Embassy during the Venice Biennale Vernissage.

Cormac Cullinan is an environmental attorney and leading advocate for the Rights of Nature. He is the founder of the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature (GARN), co-founder of the Biodiversity Law Centre, and Director of the Wild Law Institute. He has advised governments and drafted environmental legislation around the world, including the landmark Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth. His influential book Wild Law: A Manifesto for Earth Justice helped pioneer the field of Earth Jurisprudence and has inspired a global movement. He has served as a judge on the International Rights of Nature Tribunal and received both the Nick Steele Award for South African Environmentalist of the Year and the Ecologic Lifetime Achievement Award. 

Cormac Cullinan was born when atmospheric CO₂ levels were at 317 parts per million.

Carola Rackete is an ecologist, activist, and merchant mariner with a master’s degree in nature conservation. She is a Member of the European Parliament and campaigns for environmental and social justice. Carola has spent nine seasons in Antarctica, working with German and British polar research institutes and with Greenpeace, and is a leading advocate for long-term protection of the continent. She initiated the Antarctica Declaration and is a member of the Antarctic Rights Alliance.

She has volunteered with NGOs supporting refugees at sea and has been a prominent voice in movements for climate justice, civil disobedience, and systemic change. She is the author of The Time to Act Is Now and has published widely, including the article Is the Antarctic Treaty a Cause for Celebration?

Carola Rackete was born when atmospheric CO₂ levels had reached 351 parts per million.

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