neo-paganism

Panama has proposed that the U.N. General Assembly negotiate and adopt a “Universal Declaration of the Rights of Nature.” From the press release:

In a historic development, the Government of Panama and For Nature have signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly advance the adoption of a Universal Declaration of the Rights of Nature before the United Nations General Assembly, marking a significant milestone in the growing global movement to recognize ecosystems and species as rights-bearing entities.

The initiative is being funded in full by the Alfred Kobacker and Elizabeth Trimbach Fund (AKET Fund) in partnership with the National Geographic Society, reflecting a commitment to accelerate this emerging global framework at a moment when it is most urgently needed.

The nature rights movement is now thoroughly ensconced within the establishment and among the ruling elite. This agenda is being funded by the National Geographic Society. The AKET Fund is also pushing it. It doesn’t get more mainstream than that, which means that millions are going to be spent in the coming years promoting the idea of granting nature — which is everything that exists — the rights “to exist, persist, regenerate, and be restored,” among other liberties. Rivers, for example, are to be given the “right to flow.”

The “nature rights” movement is pushing environmentalism into the unscientific realm. Specifically, the movement promotes a neo-pagan mysticism — such as invoking Pachamama the Incan earth goddess — as a major basis for its advocacy. Such unscientific approaches have reached the highest levels of the ivory tower and have been invoked in medical and science journals. Most recently, the Harvard Kennedy School hosted a symposium on “nature rights” undergirded by “indigenous knowledge” as part of the 2025 Harvard Climate Action Week. From “Indigenous Leadership on Protecting Water as a Fundamental Right“: Throughout the event, a recurring theme was the need to reframe the human relationship with water—not as a resource for human consumption but as a living relative with which Read More ›