It can’t be denied that our planet is burning and the NGOs seem overwhelmed by the number of catastrophic situations to be managed... As soon as one fire goes out, another one is lit on the other side of the world. While Greenpeace had obtained a moratorium on deforestation in the Amazon, Bolsonaro’s coming to power was enough to undo the long and patient work of the NGO. Now activists of a new kind are planning to file a complaint against the Brazilian dictator, in the name of nature. It is advocates and lawyers taking over; white-collar rangers whose clients are rivers, forests and wildlife. They militate for nature to be recognised as a legal entity, in order to file a complaint on its behalf and represent them in court. Indeed, they look for all the loopholes in the laws and attack the enemies of nature on their own ground. It’s using the law as a weapon when faced with an emergency, and with leaders who favour the economic exploitation of those resources, even if it destroys the environment. We will follow these militants of a new kind, in their fight against Goliath. We will see how they succeed where NGOs fail, how they thwart the strategies of multinationals and states. For many, green justice today represents one of the best hopes, if not the last, for saving our future on Earth.
