The Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná PUCPR is an active Brazilian Blue Community / Blue University. Few days ago, Professor Marta Luciane Fischer sent us an update on her work (see Blue News here). Now, the articles are published on the university’s blog. We translated the first blog entry:
When rivers speak: Bioethics and the right to life of water…
The Belém River as a subject of rights: education and solidarity
Emanuele Caroline da Silva, Coloproctologist
Liz Yumi Saguti, Nephrologist
The expression “subject of rights” traditionally refers to any citizen who has rights, such as the right to life, liberty and equality. Today, being a subject of rights means having fundamental rights and guarantees, guaranteed by the Federal Constitution and laws, which enable people to exercise certain rights on their own behalf. However, this has not always been the case. In Brazil, children and adolescents were not recognised as subjects of rights until the 1988 Federal Constitution. In the second half of the 20th century, after the two great wars and mainly due to various environmental tragedies, the first environmental and animal rights movements began to emerge. These movements are, in a sense, an attempt to extend the concept of subjects of rights to include the environment and animals.
In this context, environmental bioethics and environmental law developed in the twentieth century as branches of knowledge that sought to reflect on the principles that could be used to protect the environment and defend rights. In bioethics, for example, the principle of solidarity is linked to the common good and the search for a universal ethic, in which society is seen as a group of people in which the rights and wishes of others are respected and everyone acts for the good of all.
We know that most rights have been won historically. According to the theory of generations of human rights, solidarity is considered a right of the third generation. In the history of the conquest and development of the main human rights, the so-called third generation rights are collective and diffuse rights, known as fraternal or solidarity rights. According to Felipe Dalla Vecchia, “these are collective rights; in other words, they are held by a group of individuals, which may be indeterminate, and are intended to protect the community as a whole. These rights are related to solidarity and fraternity and concern, for example, the environment, peace and social development. Thus, the concern for the defence of the environment was even born in this period as a third generation right.
According to the article ‘Nature as a subject of rights’ on the ((o))eco website, there are currently two main currents of thought on the relationship between the environment and the concept of a subject of rights. The first current denies nature as a subject of rights. The second, on the other hand, recognises nature as a subject of rights, which is more in line with environmental bioethics and environmental law. In the same article, the environmental journalism website explains that in 2017, after the Samarco disaster, a lawsuit was filed by the Rio Doce itself. The lawsuit had a number of technical problems, but it marks an episode in which a river appears as a subject of rights.
By considering the river as a subject of rights, the ethic of solidarity is realised in the sense that protecting the rights of the river also guarantees the rights of human beings, in a reciprocal way. If we consider that the river is guaranteed the right to life, for example when an environmental law prevents a person from polluting the river, or when the law punishes the person who has polluted the river’s waters, this protection of the life of a natural good is also the protection of human life itself, since human beings depend on the existence of nature, which characterises an ethic of solidarity.
Protecting the river from exploitation and pollution allows it to maintain its ecosystem and provide resources in a sustainable way. Furthermore, the involvement of people, especially riverine communities, in river restoration and conservation practices implies their commitment to their own health and quality of life, thus creating mutual respect for both the rights of the river and their own rights to exist and prosper. Furthermore, the debate about the environment and animals as subjects of rights needs to be brought into the school. As it takes generations to change people’s attitudes, it is only through environmental education that people will become aware of the problems of pollution and deforestation, for example.
In this way, environmental education contributes in the long term to combating environmental problems and to building a more harmonious relationship between people and the environment, a form of solidarity. In Brazil, the National Policy for Environmental Education (PNEA) was established in 1999 and regulated in 2002, establishing principles, guidelines and objectives for environmental education in Brazil, with the aim of raising awareness and action for the preservation of the environment, the sustainable use of natural resources and the development of a responsible society in relation to socio-environmental issues. The basic objectives of environmental education include To develop an integrated understanding of the environment in its multiple and complex relationships, including ecological, psychological, legal, political, social, economic, scientific, cultural and ethical aspects; to stimulate and strengthen a critical awareness of environmental and social problems; to encourage individual and collective participation in maintaining the balance of the environment; to strengthen citizenship, self-determination of peoples and solidarity as the basis for the future of humanity.
In the case of the River Belém, some of the proposals aimed at its revitalisation include environmental education actions, as well as cleaning and planting activities. In 2016, the ‘More Life in the Belém River’ campaign was launched to promote the protection and recovery of the river and to involve the local population in ongoing environmental education activities. As part of the campaign, a booklet entitled ‘Let’s Give Life to the River Belém’ was produced, containing geographical information on the river’s catchment area, data on pollution and actions that could help the river recover. Looking at the river as a ‘subject of rights’ from an educational perspective has implications for values, with an emphasis on interdependence with nature; critical education, to make people think about the impact of human actions on the environment; community, to promote active participation in the protection of resources; and cultural, to involve local communities and raise cultural aspects of rivers.
Thinking about education and environmental awareness, it is necessary to give importance to cultural transformation, with a change from an anthropocentric to a so-called ecocentric approach, promoting a balance between man and nature; the implementation of practical actions, such as educational projects to clean up rivers and reforestation; promoting a change in mentality, precisely to accept the idea of the river as a “subject of rights”; training educators and changing public policies.
As future bioethicists, we believe that the recognition of the river as a subject of rights is essential to strengthen the ethics of solidarity and environmental protection. Bioethics must go beyond human relationships and take into account the interdependence between living beings and ecosystems. Environmental education plays a fundamental role in this change of perspective, as it prepares future generations for a more respectful relationship with nature. We therefore advocate the implementation of public policies that guarantee the protection of rivers and the active participation of society in their conservation.
