MEDIA RELEASE
Contact: Tish O’Dell, Ohio Community Rights Network President
Ohiocrn.org
440-552-6774
Toledo Activists Involved with the Lake Erie Bill of Rights Invited to Speak at U.N.
OHIO: On April 22, 2019, International Mother Earth Day, the UN General Assembly will hold an Interactive Dialogue titled “Mother Earth Approach in the Implementation of Education and Climate Change.”
The Ohio Community Rights Network (OHCRN) is proud to announce that two local Ohio activists from Toledoans for Safe Water, Markie Miller and Crystal Jankowski, will be presenting at the invitation of the United Nations. Miller is also on the Board of Directors for the Ohio Community Rights Network.
From the invitation extended by Maria Mercedes Sanchez, Coordinator of the UN Harmony with Nature Program, “(M)any see protecting the intrinsic rights of Nature as a pathway to addressing Climate Change. Under the current anthropocentric system of law, Nature is treated as property, an object to be exploited for human benefit. Under the Earth Jurisprudence or non-anthropocentric paradigm represented in the UN Harmony with Nature Program, Nature or Mother Earth is a subject with rights and legal personhood. In recent years, new legislation granting rights to Nature has been adopted in different countries worldwide. I take this opportunity to congratulate you for the key role you have played in the passing of legislation granting rights to Lake Erie.”
For more information about the event: http://harmonywithnatureun.org/dialogue/nJuPqtjGc2k3dzKQEprUjhJ7x7pweY4X6zJq7c3JFIah41J2eqofPCDi58OiUJBU6I4pQxVUPcua89YcqsB12Q==
“It is gratifying to see the hard work of Toledo community members to protect the legal rights of Lake Erie recognized across the country and the world, as a model for change,” stated OHCRN board member, Sherry Fleming.
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Ohio Community Rights Network (http://ohcommunityrights.org/) is establishing a network of communities working to advance, secure and protect the inalienable rights of all Ohioans to democratic, local self-governance, to sustainable food, energy and economic systems, and the rights of nature to exist and flourish throughout Ohio.
Toledoans for Safe Water (http://www.lakeerieaction.org/) is a grassroots organization in the Toledo area working to establish a Bill of Rights to protect Lake Erie and the communities that rely on its health and viability.