Wednesday, April 30, 2025, will remain a landmark date for the movement advocating for the rights of nature in France. For the very first time, a conference dedicated to this subject took place within the walls of the National Assembly, initiated by Charles Fournier, deputy of Indre-et-Loire, and held under the high patronage of the Assembly’s president, Yaël Braun-Pivet.
The event brought together nearly 200 people, including representatives from other continents, highlighting the international scope of this “legal terrestrial uprising,” to borrow the words of writer Camille de Toledo. This moment marks a symbolic and concrete turning point: nature is no longer merely an object of protection but a full-fledged entity to which the law must recognize rights. It now falls to parliamentarians to draw inspiration from these citizen proposals and to engage in this unprecedented legal path, commensurate with the environmental and democratic challenges of the 21st century.
This conference highlighted a powerful dynamic emerging across France, driven by citizen collectives, elected officials, jurists, and scientists. Concrete initiatives abound, such as the Loire Parliament in Tours, the Popular Assemblies of the Rhône, the mobilizations around the Tavignanu in Corsica, as well as efforts concerning the Garonne, the Seine, the Sambre, and the Mediterranean Sea. Everywhere, residents proclaim and defend the rights of rivers, forests, and seas, affirming a collective awareness of the interdependence between humans and non-humans.
One of the day’s highlights was the formal presentation of three citizen law proposals, developed by the Council of Witnesses — a group of twelve citizens accompanied by Camille de Toledo as part of the project Towards an International of Rivers and other Elements of Nature. These texts, created through a transparent and living co-construction process, were handed over to deputies Charles Fournier, Lisa Belluco, and Chantal Jourdan, with the hope that they will enrich upcoming parliamentary debates.
