Constitution of Earth
Constitution of Earth
Discussion Draft
Status note: This text is a draft for discussion. It does not claim to be
a final or legally enforceable constitutional text. Some provisions are
deliberately pointed in order to provoke debate. Expert comments —
particularly from international, environmental, and constitutional law —
are expressly welcome and will be incorporated into future versions:
This draft is the basis for discussion. The institutional architecture
that makes it workable — an Earth Council, an Earth Bank, a Biosphere
Inspectorate, and a Biosphere Court, with measurable planetary limits and
automatic triggers when they are crossed — is developed in the book
This Is Not an Opinion (Earth Governance Press, 2026).
First version: 5 February 2023 · Last revised: May 2026
Initiator: Donald C. Jacob (donaldjacob.ch)
Related publications: This Is Not an Opinion (Earth Governance Press,
2026); Eine Verfassung für die Erde (oekom, 2022); Die Erde als Partner
(BoD, 2026).
PREAMBLE
The Earth is the common precondition of all life. It is not property, not
a resource, not a backdrop. It is the condition.
Democratic constitutions protect the rights of their citizens. They do
not protect the system that makes their existence possible in the first
place. This gap is no accident but a historical premise: constitutions
were written in an age of seemingly unlimited resources. We live in a
different age.
The climate crisis, species extinction, and the disruption of
biogeochemical cycles are not isolated problems. They are symptoms of a
constitutional order in which the biosphere has no voice. What has no
voice is consumed.
This constitution proposes to think of the Earth as a legally recognised
counterpart: not as a subject in the narrow legal sense, but as a
protected good that is institutionally represented — with clear
procedures, limits, and human responsibilities.
It proposes no world parliament, no eco-dictatorship, no dissolution of
national sovereignty. It is an upgrade of democracy for a finite system,
carried by states that voluntarily integrate it into their legal orders.
PART I — PRINCIPLES
Article 1 — Recognition of the Biosphere as a Protected Good
(1) The Earth's biosphere — the totality of living systems and their
abiotic preconditions — is recognised as the highest protected good.
(2) The protected good comprises the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and
lithosphere in their biologically relevant dimensions, as well as all
species and ecosystems.
(3) Recognition as a protected good does not make the biosphere ownable;
it establishes a duty of all state and private actors not to impair its
functioning.
Article 2 — Precedence over Particular Interests
(1) Where economic, political, or individual interests conflict with the
lasting functioning of the biosphere, the protected good takes precedence.
(2) Precedence does not abolish other fundamental rights; it sets a
weighting standard in balancing decisions.
Article 3 — Duty to Future Generations
(1) The people living today act as trustees for future generations.
(2) Decisions causing irreversible damage to the biosphere are
impermissible unless there is a compelling necessity and no reasonable
alternative exists.
PART II — OBLIGATIONS
Article 4 — Obligations of States
(1) States recognising this constitution commit to bringing their legal
orders step by step into line with the principles of Part I.
(2) In particular, they commit:
– to set binding reduction pathways for climate-relevant emissions, land
sealing, and pollutant inputs;
– to establish independent institutions that represent the biosphere and
take part in decision-making procedures;
– to report at regular intervals on the state and development of relevant
ecological indicators;
– to give scientific advice a binding role in central decisions.
Article 5 — Obligations of Private Actors
(1) Economic actors are subject to a duty of care regarding the
ecological consequences of their activities, covering direct and indirect
impacts along the entire value chain.
(2) This duty of care is justiciable.
Article 6 — Obligations of Individuals
(1) Every person is called upon to contribute to the preservation of the
biosphere through their conduct.
(2) This duty is primarily a matter of education and awareness, not
primarily of sanctions.
PART III — INSTITUTIONS
Article 7 — Representation of the Biosphere
(1) Recognising states establish institutions whose sole mandate is the
protection and representation of the biosphere.
(2) These institutions are designed to operate independently of
short-term political or economic cycles. Constitutional courts,
independent central banks, or courts of audit may serve as models.
(3) The concrete institutional design — name, composition, powers — is
left to each legal order, provided it does not defeat the purpose.
Article 8 — Scientific Foundation
(1) Decisions substantially affecting the biosphere rest on the best
available scientific knowledge.
(2) Scientific advisory bodies are set up to work free of instructions
and to make their findings publicly accessible.
Article 9 — Transparency and Participation
(1) Procedures affecting the biosphere must be transparent.
(2) Civil-society actors have the right to take part in procedures and to
seek legal remedies, in their own name or on behalf of the biosphere.
PART IV — TRANSITION AND IMPLEMENTATION
Article 10 — Recognition
(1) This constitution takes effect through voluntary recognition by
individual states, subnational entities, cities, or organisations.
(2) Recognition may be symbolic, political, or legal. Its form and scope
are determined by the recognising actor.
Article 11 — Step-by-Step Implementation
(1) Recognising actors commit to a serious, documented implementation of
the principles. Implementation is not a single measure but a path.
(2) Recognising actors define indicators, stages, and reporting duties
and communicate them publicly.
Article 12 — Further Development
(1) This constitution understands itself as a living document. Future
versions will build on feedback, expert criticism, and practical
experience.
(2) Versions are dated, annotated with change notes, and publicly
archived.
CONCLUSION
"If we carry on like this, it is not failure. It is a decision."
This constitution is a proposal. It is not a certainty, not a finished
work, not a complete answer. It is an invitation to ask the question
precisely: What legal order fits a finite system?
The answer will not be written here. It will be written in parliaments,
courts, academies of science, social movements, schools, and private
decisions. This text serves one purpose: to keep the question open.
— Donald C. Jacob, Arlesheim, May 2026