Global warming is a pressing human rights issue arising from a wrong relationship between our civilization and the Earth. The experience of Guatemala illustrates how respect for human rights and respect for the environment are inseparable. Australia’s human rights record, initially leading the world, has fallen behind. Our human rights discourse has not touched the potent issue of global warming. The enlightenment gave us much of our human rights legacy, but that movement also disconnected us from the Earth. Our legal relationship with land illustrates this. We can learn from indigenous attitudes to the Earth. The developed world has a catastrophic environmental record, with the powerless paying price. We cannot protect human rights without recognising the rights of the biosphere which cradles humanity. International jurisprudence shows early signs of developing this recognition.