Constitution of Earth

A Constitution for the Earth

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This historic document marks the beginning of the movement to provide constitutional protection for the biosphere, the foundation of all life.
Initiated by Donald C. Jacob, it was symbolically established in Basel on February 5, 2023.
Location: UM (Unternehmen Mitte), with 150 people joining live via video link from around the world.

 

Why

Modern constitutions protect the rights of citizens. 
However, they rarely protect the living system that makes these rights possible in the first place: the biosphere.
This gap is no accident. Most modern constitutions were drafted at a time when nature seemed boundless, external, and readily available. We no longer live in that era.
Climate disruption, the loss of biodiversity, soil degradation, and the destabilization of biogeochemical cycles are not isolated crises.

They are signs of a deeper constitutional deficit. The biosphere has no institutional voice.
What has no voice is easily consumed.

 

Proposal

The Constitution for the Earth proposed recognizing the biosphere as a constitutional asset of the highest order.
It did not propose a world parliament.
Nor did it propose an ecological dictatorship.
It did not call for the dissolution of national sovereignty either.

Rather, the proposal called for a democratic evolution for a finite planet, a framework that states, regions, cities, institutions, and organizations could voluntarily adopt into their own constitutional and legal systems.
Specifically, the proposal called for:
​the recognition of the biosphere as a constitutionally protected asset of the highest order,
- independent institutions representing its interests;
- mandatory scientific review of decisions with significant ecological impacts;
- the right of qualified civil society actors to bring legal action on behalf of the biosphere.

 

The full text remains available as a discussion draft (Version 2.0).

 

Who

The initiative was launched by Donald C. Jacob, a Switzerland-based artist, landscape architect, ecologist, and author.

 

Accompanying publications:

— A Constitution for the Earth, oekom Verlag, Munich, 2022.
—The Earth as a Partner. BoD, 2026. ISBN: 9783695750337.

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Further works by the initiator can be found at donaldjacob.ch.

Status

This page documents a draft for discussion. Its purpose is to stimulate a serious constitutional debate. While the initiative is no longer actively pursued as a movement, substantive feedback from the fields of public law, environmental law, constitutional law, Earth system science, and democratic theory may be incorporated into future versions.

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Contact: dojacob@me.com