Jamie Moser

• Increasingly frequent and severe extreme weather events are already affecting the European continent, posing serious threats to both the well-being of its citizens and its economies. Droughts are becoming more common and more intense, leading to reduced agricultural yields and higher rates of tree mortality (Buras et al., 2020). Coupled with rising temperatures, these conditions have resulted in an increase in wildfires, particularly in countries such as Greece and Portugal (European Forest Fire Information System, 2024). These fires not only devastate forests and biodiversity, but they also endanger public health and safety (European Climate and Health Observatory, 2024). Wildfires generally also release vast amounts of carbon into the atmosphere, which exacerbates climate change and creates a dangerous feedback loop (US Environmental Protection Agency, 2016). While droughts and heatwaves are pressing issues, the opposite problem – excessive water – has be come a significant challenge as well, as flooding is the most frequent type of extreme weather event in Europe (CRED, 2021), with events like the 2021 floods in Germany and Belgium causing approximately 43 billion USD in damages. (Yale Climate Connections, 2022). The impact of these events could increasingly threaten Europe’s economic interests by destabilizing key industries, such as agriculture, tourism or health care, and damaging billions worth of properties and infrastructure as climate change progresses. (Ciscar et al., 2011) A study indicated that Germany alone might face economic costs of up to 920 billion Euros by 2050 because of climate change. (GWS et al., 2022). But more importantly, these events endanger basic survival, as they can undermine food and water security and create public health crises. As Europe struggles to adapt, the increasing costs and risks highlight the urgent need for more comprehensive and innovative legal protection for the environment. An innovative legal approach to better protect nature could be the concept of Rights of Nature (RoN). By granting natural entities “legal personhood” and therefore enabling them to have standing in court, it may become easier and more effective to protect the environment and climate from competing – often economic – interests. The following chapters will delve into the idea of awarding legal rights to natural entities within the European context, drawing inspiration from the story of “Run Run,” a fox in Peru that was granted subjective rights.