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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.
This issue presents the contributions of the participants of the international DAAD Blended Mobility Project “Giving nature its own rights - ethical and legal perspectives and the influence on the realization of selected SDGs” which took place in wintersemester 2025 at Trier University of Applied Science, Environmental Campus Birkenfeld (UCB) under the guidance of Prof. Valeva and Prof. Nitschmann and in collaboration with the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru and the University of Coimbra supported by Prof. Zegarra (PUCP) and Prof. Aragão (University of Coimbra).
The DAAD funded project used the concept of global education to strengthen students' democratic competences and social participation and integrates intercultural dimensions into teaching. Its content is in the context of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and is linked to the curricular content of the studies “Non-Profit Management”, “Environmental Economics and Environmental Law” and “Sustainable Business and Technology” at the UCB. As part of the project, students and professors from Peru and Portugal visited the UCB for a workshop week in the winter semester 2024/25.
Understanding and methods for interpreting the global agenda of the UN regarding the SDGs were developed within the framework of this ESD project. Students worked together in teams virtually and in person under the guidance of experts to critically evaluate existing anthropocentric systems and their imbalances and to develop strategies for overcoming the challenges of an ecocentered approach for the law and the system in general (institutions, companies, civil society).
Ahead of the mobility phase and the technical content on the SDGs and diverse Rights of Nature (RoN) perspectives, language and culture were key themes in the two virtual kick-off events. This approach made it possible to raise transcultural and ecological awareness and thus paves the way for interdisciplinary knowledge building in teams. The intense mobility week started off with creating international mixed teams which were the work groups for the whole week. Input was given by experts within moderated panel discussions referring to different perspectives such as ethics and society and law and culture.
The project focused on the Hunsrück-Hochwald National Park as a natural entity and local example, serving as a starting point for case studies from selected countries to provide a broad basis for interpreting SDGs 13, 14, 15, and 16. Students were introduced to the biodiversity of the park by an expert ranger and used it as an experience-oriented and stimulating place to experience the intelligence of nature.
To perform a well-prepared simulated parliament debate, four internationally composed teams were defined, whereby a particular real case study in the area of RoN was assigned to two teams. The preparation of the debate included the assignment of the debate’s roles to the team’s members and clarification of the functions of the given roles. The material preparation included research for and discussion about the relevant information, and the training of the argumentation scenarios. They prepared themselves or two possible scenarios: confirmation of the launching of RoN or rejection of it. The two case studies were defined as follows:
1. Grant legal rights to the Maranon River, demanding its protection as a rights-bearing entity, now!
2. Grant the status of a subject of rights to the little fox “Run Run”, now!
The debate concept allowed the students to transfer their theoretic knowledge in practical skills and thus contributes to the learning outcome of defending democratic values by contributing actively in democratic processes. With the idea to perpetuate the outcome of the project this issue publishes the student works related to the final debate and is completed by professors’ perspectives.
Content:
CHAPTER 1 – Theoretical Impulses and Panel Discussions within the DAAD Rights of Nature Project 2024 (Report)
Alexandra Aragão:
Foundations for a theory of radical legal eco-innovation: the paradigm of Rights of Nature
Milena Valeva:
Panel Discussion on Democracy, Rights of Nature and Social Norm Dynamics
Kathrin Nitschmann:
Researching the problem: Would an Rights of Nature Concept be THE solution?
Nina Giordano:
The Te Awa Tupua Act: How Nature’s Legal Standing Strengthens Indigenous and Human Rights
CHAPTER 2 – Part I – Case Study: Granting legal rights to the Maranon River as a rights-bearing entity
Lynette Annau:
Granting Rights to Naturals Objects: The Future of Environmental Protection or Cultural Mismatch?
Jesus Bernal:
Anthropocentrism – an Obstacle to the Protection of Nature
Malika Arstan:
Economic Advantages of Granting the Rights of Nature
Claudia Rocio Crespo Chavez:
Is Europe Ready to Embrace the Recognition of Nature’s Rights?
CHAPTER 2 – Part II – Case Study: Granting legal rights to the Maranon River as a rights-bearing entity
Ana Murhiel Diaz Aguilar:
Going to the Court doesn’t ensure that the environment will be protected
Lilly Roth:
Legal Instruments to Protect the Environment outside of Rights of Nature
Tobias Becker:
Public Support and Challenges in Recognizing the Rights of Nature: A European Perspective
Maria J. Paixão:
Legal Fetishism in Times of Polycrisis
CHAPTER 3 – Part I – Case Study: Granting a Status of a Subject of Rights to the Peruvian Little Fox “Run Run”
Jamie Moser:
The Case of Run Run and the Emergence of a Nature – Centered Legal Framework
José Heleno P. Vanzeler:
Ecological Awareness and the Power of Law in Realizing the Rights of Nature
Roya Qazen:
From the Rights of Man to the Social Contract for Geoethics toward the Rights of Nature
Amanda Erin Regalado Romero:
Foundations for the recognition of the Rights of Nature in the European Union
CHAPTER 3 – Part II – Case Study: Granting a Status of a Subject of Rights to the Peruvian Little Fox “Run Run”
Ronald Sebastián Yaipén Polo:
The Rights of Nature: The Answer to a Poorly Framed Debate
Maria Eduarda Terra e Zeitune:
Economic Challenges and the Rights of Nature: A Conflict Between Sustainable Growth and Environmental Conservation
Yannick Wagner:
Culture matters – Why the Rights of Nature don't fit the European Union
