Cormac Cullinan

Environmental lawyer and author

Cormac Cullinan is a practising environmental attorney, author, speaker and advocate for the rights of Nature, based in Cape Town, South Africa He is a director of the Wild Law Institute and of the specialist environmental law firm of Cullinan & Associates Inc. and is a founder and non-executive director of the Biodiversity Law Centre. He has worked in more than 30 countries and has drafted environmental treaties, laws and policies for governments in Asia, Africa, Europe and South America.

His groundbreaking book Wild Law A Manifesto for Earth Justice (2002) pioneered Earth Jurisprudence and has played a significant role in informing and inspiring the growing right of Nature movement. Cormac played a leading role in the drafting of the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth (proclaimed on 22 April 2010 in Bolivia), is a founder and Executive Committee member of the Global Alliance for Rights of Nature, and a judge of the International Rights of Nature Tribunal.

He has been included in a book profiling 301 extraordinary environmentalists in history (2008) and in Warrior Lawyers: From Manila to Manhattan, Attorneys for the Earth (2016). He is a recipient of the Nick Steele award for the South African environmentalist of the year (2012) and of the Ecologic awards for lifetime achievements (2018) and eco-leadership (2021).

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