Paris seeks personhood status for River Seine

PARIS: French authorities want to give legal rights to the River Seine to better defend the world-famous waterway in court and protect its fragile ecosystem, part of a global movement to grant legal personhood to nature.

In a resolution adopted on Wednesday, the Paris City Council called on parliament to pass a law granting the Seine legal personhood to enable “an independent guardian authority to defend its rights in court”.

“The Seine must be able to defend itself, as a subject of law and not as an object, because it will always be under attack,” said Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo.

Conservationists have backed granting fragile ecosystems such as rivers and mountains basic legal rights to better protect them.

In a world first, New Zealand in 2017 recognised the Whanganui River revered by Indigenous people as a living entity, with legislation combining Western legal precedent and Maori beliefs.

In 2022, Spain granted personhood status to the Mar Menor, one of Europe´s largest saltwater lagoons, to give its threatened ecosystem better protection. The Paris Council based its decision on the conclusions of a citizens´ convention on the future of the Seine held between March and May.

Fifty citizens chosen at random proposed granting the Seine fundamental rights such as “the right to exist, to flow and to regenerate”.

The Seine must be considered an ecosystem that “no one can claim ownership of”, where the preservation of life must “take precedence over everything”, the convention concluded. It also noted “positive” change, with the Seine now home to around 40 species of fish, compared to only four in 1970.