MOTHER NATURE & FUTURE GENERATIONS
Taking their Seat at the Table
In 2023, inspired by Faith in Nature, House of Hackney became the second company in the world to legally appoint a Mother Nature and Future Generations Director to our board. In giving a voice to the natural world and those who come after us, we can ensure that with every business decision made, we consider the future of a liveable, thriving planet for all life on earth.
As humans, we have lost our way, thinking we have ownership over Nature when in fact we are Nature. We have forgotten how to live in kinship with the natural world; we are part of a sacred web of life with all living organisms including plants, animals, rivers, mountains, oceans and their co-created living systems which have equal and inherent rights to exist and thrive.
We are living beyond our planetary boundaries; infinite growth on a finite planet is not possible, and in order to try to stabilise our precious eco-systems, on which we are dependent for our own existence, we need to listen to Nature, and we have a duty to do so. That is why we have made the decision to appoint Mother Nature & Future Generations to our board of directors. In giving a voice to the natural world and the people who will come after us, we can ensure that with every business decision made, we fully consider the future of a liveable, thriving planet for all life on earth.
We are just a part of the movement. As the call for action on Nature Rights gathers momentum, we hope that more businesses give Nature a seat at the table.
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Why are we bringing Nature's voice to the table?
We are at a pivotal point with the health of the planet, where unless we act now, there will be no turning back. As humans, we have lost our way, thinking we have ownership over Nature when in fact we are Nature.
As a business rooted in the beauty of the natural world, we believe it's imperative we hold ourselves to a high level of accountability for our impact on Nature and the quality of life we’re leaving behind for generations to come.
In the UK and US, the two main markets where we operate, over 99% of private sector businesses are small to medium enterprises (SME’s), including House of Hackney. To harness our collective power for change, we are committed to sharing how this legal tool helps fast track progress in our own business. Our hope is that it can support other SMEs to do the same.
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How did we do it?
Lawyers for Nature is a cutting-edge collective who work with those seeking to defend the natural world and the legal representation of non-persons. They supported us through the process of appointing a legal representative for Mother Nature and Future Generations to House of Hackney’s board of directors.
It was a six-month process that involved defining what impact we wanted a Mother Nature and Future Generations directorship to have on our business. We set expectations for the role now and over time and came to an agreement the board felt comfortable to sign off. The quickest part was changing our company articles of incorporation to reflect our new legal commitment to Nature.
Co-founder of Lawyers for Nature, Brontie Ansell, pioneer of Nature on the Board concept, has been appointed to represent both voices for its first year. The role will evolve as we navigate Nature’s needs in our company context.
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What does this Mean in Practice?
It means that at House of Hackney, Mother Nature and Future Generations have been given legal personhood on our board, as a director. A non-partisan person, independent of our business, represents their interests and has a voice to ensure that in every decision made across all departments, our impact on Nature (including human wellbeing) is considered.
The new director sense-checks our work to ensure we are on track to deliver on our mission. In addition to attending board meetings, the director meets with senior leadership and individual departments to gauge engagement and support our journey.
Their input has led to the development of a governance structure to lock the company mission for the long term, and the creation of our three strategic pillars to support the mission delivery; 1) Nature Royalties and Capital flows, 2) Regeneration and Restoration and 3) Activism and Influence and more.
As we evolve the Mother Nature and Future Generations Directorship, we will create a wider advisory board with specialist knowledge to inform our regenerative product roadmap, where priority improvements have been identified across all key categories.
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Our definitions
In order to give Mother Nature and Future Generations legal personhood, they first needed to be defined.
House of Hackney defines these two parties as:
Mother Nature
A personification of nature, all the animals, plants, ecosystems and other things in the world that are not made by humans, and all the events and processes that are not caused by humans. Nature includes humans themselves. Considering that we are Nature and our business would not exist without Nature, we see every decision made across all business functions as potentially impacting her and in turn, Future Generations.
Future Generations
Generations of humans, plants and animals on earth from today’s date. Learning from Indigenous People’s wisdom and the 7th Generation principle of considering the impact of decisions on future generations, we intend to use this board appointment to ensure that decisions we make today result in a liveable, thriving world for tomorrow.
