Board Seats for Nature and Ecocentric Corporate Governance
Project Description & Budget
January 2023
About Earth Law Center
Earth Law Center (ELC) advances Earth-centered laws, legal movements, and relationships
Areas of Expertise
Recent Wins
Here are a few of our recent wins:
1) Helped write a national law in Panama on the Rights of Nature and ecocentrism in Panama.
2) Released a first-ever law school coursebook on Earth-centered law.
3) Launched a campaign on rights of the Ocean with 5+ countries supporting.
4) Supported 5 major courtroom wins on the rights of ecosystems in Latin America.
5) Secured rights recognition for 3 U.S. ecosystems and created a plan to scale.
7) Trained 1,000+ students and 300+ lawyers.
ELC’s Constsanza Prieto Figelist
ESG: Helpful But Not Enough
InfluenceMap assessed 723 equity funds—with over $330 billion in total net assets—marketed using ESG claims and climate-related key words.
More than half of the climate-themed fall short of the vision laid out in the Paris treaty.
More than 70% of the funds with broader ESG goals are also misaligned with climate targets.
The Economist
Ecocentric Corporate Law
The legal system creates a false dichotomy between humans and Nature. This includes corporate law. But it can evolve.
ELC helps businesses lead the transition to an Earth-centered society in which humans—and the companies we create—are only one part of the larger community of life.
This complements ESG by helping companies vigorously align their policies and practices with the Earth’s boundaries.
ELC’s Corporate Services
Board Seats for Nature
A program to give Nature Board seats through human proxies. Piloted in the UK and now scaling.
Nature as a Shareholder
Make the ocean, rivers, biodiversity, or “Nature” the shareholder of a company. Piloting in Hawaii.
In-House Counsel
ELC will be on retainer for any company wanting to embrace ecocentrism in a day-to-day manner.
Plan to Scale
Board Seats for Nature → Train Board Members
ELC will create a training and oversight program for more people, especially youth, to be a proxy for Nature.
Nature as a Shareholder → Create Templates
ELC will release its template for Nature to be a shareholder and customize it for various jurisdictions.
In-House Counsel → Grow Staff
ELC will employ more ”Earth Lawyers” to consult with individual companies that embrace ecocentrism.
Areas of Future Research
Ecocentric Corporate Law Havens
ELC will research what countries, such as those recognizing the Rights of Nature (e.g., Ecuador), could serve as “havens” for companies wanting to give Nature a voice. This would benefit friendly jurisdictions that want to attract innovative businesses.
Transforming Corporate Law
We may need legal reform in the United States and other countries with legal systems that prioritize short-term profits over all other considerations. ELC will develop advocacy campaigns and template legal language to build a movement.
Case Study
On September 21, 2022, ELC helped create the first-ever Board seat for Nature for a London-based natural products company “Faith in Nature”.
ELC partnered with UK nonprofit “Lawyers for Nature” and the pro bono legal team at Shearman & Sterling.
This project required a deep dive into UK law, including how Nature could feasibly speak for itself without violating legal duties to the company. �
Is a Nature Director Even Legal in the UK?
In the UK, Board members owe a fiduciary duty to “promote the success of the company.”
Under this duty, Board members may “have regard” to the “the impact of the company's operations on the community and the environment.”
Also, the meaning of “success” can be broadly interpreted.
Otherwise, UK corporate law is flexible enough to allow for Nature to be represented on the Board through a proxy.
7 Pro Bono Corporate Lawyers
X
Team of Earth lawyers
Traffic Light System
10+ categories of how strong the Board Seat for Nature can be in practice. Example:
(ND = Nature Director)
Outcome
ELC and Lawyers for Nature are serving as Nature’s proxies on the Board at Faith in Nature, attending monthly Board meetings and giving a voice to Nature. Over 50 media outlets wrote about this case. Over 100 corporations have contacted our groups.
These are the first proxies for Nature on a Board of Directors! (ELC’s Alexandra Pimor on the left.)
ELC Seeks Funding to Scale this Program
We are receiving unprecedented interest in this program throughout the world—the United States, France, the Netherlands, and beyond. To take full advantage of this opportunity, we need a full-time staff member as well as support staff. Some of their responsibilities would be as follows:
Budget
Immediate Goal (late-2022)
Near-Term Goal (mid-2023)
1 full-time staff to coordinate | $80,000 |
Travel | $8,000 |
European & USA Support Staff | $10,000 (2 x $5k stipends) |
Office space, supplies, overhead | $2,000 |
TOTAL | $100,000 |
1 full-time staff to coordinate | $80,000 |
Travel | $15,000 |
European, LatAm, & USA Support Staff | $90,000 (3 x $30k stipends) |
Office space, supplies, overhead | $15,000 |
TOTAL | $200,000 |