A Call on the EU for THE RIGHTS OF NATURE

A Call on the EU to RECOGNISE THE RIGHTS OF NATURE

CELT is the Irish representative in an European Citizens’ Initiative that aims to have the Rights of Nature recognized in EU legislation. 

A movement of European citizens - for nature and for democracy

We are delighted to join citizens from across Ireland and the EU – including lawyers who have argued for the rights of rivers in court, activists who brought a nature rights bill before the Polish parliament, campaigners who helped turn the Mar Menor lagoon into a legal person under Spanish law. We come from different countries and different traditions, but we share a conviction: that the rights of nature deserves better than the law currently gives it and we need to recognise our interdependence and interbeing with nature. This was also reflected in the recommendations arising from Ireland's Citizens' Assembly on Biodiversity Loss in 2022 which called for Constitutional change to recognise the Rights of Nature in Bunreacht na hÉireann

We are part of a global movement that recognises in the midst of a planetary emergency and sweeping biodiversity loss, our legal systems are not working to protect nature and need to fundamentally change. Recognizing the rights of nature is one way to make our legal systems more ecocentric, just, and adapted to our planetary reality. 

The initiative is now officially registered with the European Commission.

Rights for Nature is our tool. By collecting one million signatures across EU member states, we are calling on the European Commission to establish a legal framework that recognises ecosystems as rights-holders – shifting the foundation of European law from treating nature as property to treating it as a partner, as kin. It is a change grounded in democratic principles, built on legal precedent, and driven by citizens who believe we need to build a common future with nature, not at its expense.

Before signature collection opens in October 2026, we are doing the groundwork: Growing our network of partner organisations, and building a movement ready to act. Will you become part of that journey?

This current European Citizens’ Initiative brings together organizations and people from over 16 EU countries who all want the EU’s legal system to recognise the rights of nature and treat nature and everyone living on this planet with empathy and respect. The aim of the ECI is to collect over a million signatures of Euopean Citizens requesting the EU to act. If we succeed, the rights of nature could be recognized in EU legislation.

Please join us in our campaign and read more about the EU initiative here.