Canada Bureau
Rights of Nature
RIGHTS OF NATURE 2026 REPORT
After 20 years of controversial and challenging work, the “Rights of Nature” movement, which aims to extend legal protections to the natural world, finds itself on shaky ground, facing counterattacks, outright bans, corruption, cooptation, and — in a few inspiring cases — victories.
Canada Bureau
Rights of Nature
RIGHTS OF NATURE 2026 REPORT
After 20 years of controversial and challenging work, the “Rights of Nature” movement, which aims to extend legal protections to the natural world, finds itself on shaky ground, facing counterattacks, outright bans, corruption, cooptation, and — in a few inspiring cases — victories.
FIRST NATIONS
The long-standing lack of clean drinking water and wastewater facilities in Indigenous communities has left an indelible stain on Canada's flag. For years successive government have pledged to fix the problem, yet today there are 31 long-term and 36 short-term advisories in Indigenous
communities across the country. While 145 long-term advisories have been lifted since November 2015, 31 remain, and the number of short-term advisories has not been declining in recent months, with short-term advisories regularly recurring in the same communities.
Band Councils say government initiatives suffer from a lack of holistic approach, unprofessional consultants or engineers and poor funding for operators and related infrastructure.