Colofon

Earth Trusteeship Platform organised
a Gathering on 22, 23 June 2018 in The Hague, where the Earth Trusteeship Initiative
was discussed

Organisers of the Earth Trusteeship Platform are a.o.

Klaus Bosselmann, Bert de Graaff, Dorine van Norren, Alide Roerink , Prue Taylor, Jan van de Venis,
Leo van der Vlist, Hans en Wallapa van Willenswaard, Rembrandt Zegers, Dirk Zeilstra.

The original “The Hague Principles” as presented on the 10^th December, were jointly written by Dr Michèle Perrin-Taillat, Colin Robertson, Caroline Hunt-Matthes, Lisa Mead, with Prof. Klaus Bosselmann and Mumta Ito as editors. The text was agreed after a period of discussion and consultation within a wider network of people attending the Earth Trusteeship Gathering in The Hague in June 2018.

Contributiors to the Earth Trusteeship Gathering

Ignaz Anderson, Nnimmo Bassey, Juliya Beliyanevich, Pietro Bertazzi, Tim Boekhout van Solinge, Joeri van der Boog, Rick Clugston, Hal Crimmel, Michiel Damen, Manon Danker, Ama van Dantzig, Christophe Deage, Marc van Delft, Gerald Häfner, Ton Hendrix, Wim Hiemstra, Corien Hoek, Liz Hosken, Asje van Hout, Caroline Hunt, Jan Huisman, Caroline Hunt, Soo Young Hwang, Catherine Iorns Magallanes, Mumta Ito, Willem Jansen, Bas Jurres, Theun Karelse, Dennis Kerkhoven, Peter de Koning, Ezra de Korte, Gerbrich Kozijn, Jan Kleefstra, Johannes Kronenberg, Tineke Lambooy, Charlie Lindeman, Karin Lindeman-Boere, Paulo Magalhaes, Michelle Maloney, Jan Diek van Mansvelt, Massimiliano Montini, Andreas Matahelumual, Lisa Mead, Roland Mees, Gaston Meskens, Monica Meyer, Gertjan Mulder, Dorine van Norren, Patrick Nuvelstijn, Fadilah Ohorella, Nadjib Ohorella, Doris Ragetti, Voahangy Ramahatafandry, Anselma Remmers, Colin Robertson, Naomie Sahureka, Semuel Sahureka, Teyo van der Schoot, Stefan Schuller, Jeanne Specht Grijp, Menno Staarink, Roy Straver, Veronique Swinkels, Michele Perrin Taillat, Danny Vader, Heleen Vader, Rianne ten Veen, Melvin van der Veen, Jan van de Venis, Paola Villavicencio Calzadilla, Alain Volz, Inge Wallage, Sofia van Winden, Georg Winter, Annick de Witt, Dirk Zeilstra…

…and all present and those who could not be present at the International Earth Trusteeship Gathering, June 2018.

Obituary – Ms Polly Higgins

The global conservation movement has lost one of its most inspiring figures. It is with great sadness to announce that Polly Higgins has passed away on 21 April 2019 aged 50.

Polly Higgins was the world’s leading authority on ecocide, i.e. the attempt to criminalize human behaviour causing excessive damage, destruction or loss of ecosystems of a given territory. In 2010 Polly proposed to the United Nations to make ecocide a fifth Crime Against Peace (next to genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression). Ever since Polly led a worldwide campaign that included lobbying of the UN and member states, public lectures, mock trials, books (“Eradicating Ecocide”), the establishment of a trust fund for “Earth Protectors” and numerous other initiatives. She was a relentless champion of changing broken laws – internationally and nationally – that have failed so miserably to protect the global environment and the integrity of planetary ecosystems.

Polly was closely associated with the WCEL Ethics Specialist Group and its projects. Ethically motivated and a keen advocate of legal transformation, she promoted the Earth Charter at any possible occasion, was a co-founder of the Ecological Law and Governance Association (speaking at the launching conference in October 2017), and an enthusiastic supporter of the Hague Principles of Responsibilities for Human Rights and Earth Trusteeship. At the recent launch of the “Hague Principles” on 10 December 2018 in the Peace Palace, The Hague, Polly gave a speech that impressed delegates of over 100 legal networks with her sharp legal mind and deeply committed soul. It is hard to come to terms with the fact that only a few months later she was diagnosed with incurable cancer.

Polly Higgins has inspired many environmental lawyers, not the least within WCEL, and possibly the entire young generation of environmental activists and legal experts. Her legacy to us all is that every single person can – and must – work for the transformation of laws, policies and institutions.