The Process
The Harmony with Nature Programme at the United Nations General Assembly. The discussion is already in progress.
Why Now
Efforts to address the triple planetary crisis have renewed focus on humanity's relationship with Nature. International law is being asked to assess how current frameworks can better address climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution and the interdependence between societies and the natural world.
The United Nations General Assembly first placed Harmony with Nature on its sustainable development agenda through resolution 64/196 of 21 December 2009, following its designation of 22 April as International Mother Earth Day earlier that year. Since then the General Assembly has adopted fifteen resolutions on Harmony with Nature, most recently resolution 79/210 of 19 December 2024, advancing a global dialogue on humanity's relationship with Nature and on the need to rethink environmental governance amid accelerating ecological crises.
After more than fifteen years of United Nations dialogue under the Harmony with Nature agenda, Panama proposes that the General Assembly launch an open, transparent, inclusive and Member State-led intergovernmental process to negotiate a proposed United Nations Universal Declaration of the Rights of Nature.
The initiative does not predetermine outcomes or prescribe any domestic legal model. It aims to provide a structured multilateral framework for Member States to collectively examine, discuss and negotiate emerging approaches to humanity's relationship with Nature, drawing on diverse legal traditions, scientific knowledge, Indigenous worldviews and national experiences.
Legal and normative foundations
United Nations General Assembly practice
Harmony with Nature resolutions have progressively advanced international reflection on humanity's relationship with Nature.
International advisory opinions
Recent advisory opinions of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, the International Court of Justice and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights have addressed climate change and States' environmental obligations. Advisory Opinion OC-32/25 of the Inter-American Court expressly addressed the legal status and rights of Nature.
National legislation and jurisprudence
An increasing number of States and courts have explored legal approaches that recognize the intrinsic value of ecosystems and strengthen environmental stewardship.
Existing United Nations practice
The General Assembly has repeatedly used co-facilitated processes to support dialogue, identify areas of convergence and prepare recommendations on emerging international issues before formal negotiations.
Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework
The Framework expressly recognizes diverse value systems, including, for countries that recognize them, rights of Nature and rights of Mother Earth, as integral to its implementation.
Growing international practice
National legislation, constitutional provisions, judicial decisions and public policy initiatives across multiple regions show increasing engagement with concepts relating to the Rights of Nature and Earth-centered approaches to environmental governance.
National practice is increasingly shaping this area of international law. Rights of Nature initiatives have been documented in dozens of countries and territories through constitutional provisions, national and subnational legislation, judicial decisions, Indigenous legal systems and other legal and policy initiatives. Their legal form and effect vary significantly. Among the clearest national examples are Ecuador, Bolivia, New Zealand, Spain and Panama, although their legal approaches differ considerably.
The proposed process step by step
Harmony with Nature resolution
STEP 1
Co-facilitators
STEP 2
Informal Consultation
STEP 3
The General Assembly adopts the Harmony with Nature resolution at its eighty-first session, with operative language on the proposed process.
The President of the General Assembly appoints two co-facilitators upon adoption, one from a developing country and one from a developed country.
Open, transparent and inclusive consultations with Member States and relevant stakeholders.
Elements Paper
STEP 4
Negotiation
STEP 5
The co-facilitators submit an Elements Paper at the end of the eighty-first session.
The intergovernmental negotiation process is launched at the eighty-second session.
Under this proposal, the process would be intergovernmental and State-led, with Member States retaining ownership of and responsibility for its conduct and outcome, while ensuring the open, transparent, structured and meaningful participation of relevant stakeholders, including civil society organizations, Indigenous Peoples and local communities, and the scientific and academic communities, in accordance with the rules of procedure and established practice of the General Assembly.
If negotiated and agreed by Member States, a United Nations Universal Declaration of the Rights of Nature could serve as a common reference for ongoing international dialogue and cooperation. As with previous General Assembly declarations, it could help develop shared principles, promote policy coherence, encourage the exchange of national experiences and strengthen international cooperation on global environmental challenges.
What participation means in practice
Participation allows interested Member States to actively shape an emerging multilateral discussion of global significance.
Engaging constructively in consultations on the upcoming Harmony with Nature resolution is the principal immediate opportunity for interested Member States to help shape the proposed process.
By participating in the decentralized Coalition and in the co-facilitated consultation and negotiation process within the Harmony with Nature programme, Member States can help shape the scope, content and direction of future discussions on a proposed United Nations Universal Declaration of the Rights of Nature, while fully preserving their sovereign positions regarding any future negotiated outcome.
Participating allows Member States to contribute perspectives, share national experiences, identify areas of convergence and help shape an inclusive process from the outset.
Your place in the process
The timeline below reflects the sequence proposed by Panama. It will be updated as Member States take decisions at each stage.
2009
2024
UNGA 81
UNGA 82
Beyond
Harmony with Nature dialogue begins
Resolution 79/210 adopted
Proposed Operative language adopted,
co-facilitators appointed, Elements Paper at the end of the session
Proposed. Intergovernmental negotiation process launched
Possible Universal Declaration of the Rights of Nature