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French law—and, more broadly, modern, anthropocentric Western law—appears largely powerless when it comes to protecting the environment. Worse, it tends to become complicit in extractivism, polluting industrial projects, and, more broadly, the destruction of nature. Could granting nature genuine rights help change some of our societies’ paradigms and lead to an ecological refounding of the world?
Numerous citizen-led initiatives and international experiences can serve as inspiration, particularly in Latin America, where the concepts of Pachamama (Mother Earth) and buen vivir (good living) are powerful tools for political and legal mobilization. Could recognizing our shared history and vital interdependence with every element of the biosphere, and more broadly rethinking the relationship between human societies and the living world, transform the law in pursuit of environmental justice—particularly by providing tools to protect ecosystems and recognizing new crimes such as ecocide? The time has come to inhabit the world differently. With: Marine Calmet, lawyer and activist advocating for the recognition of the rights of Nature, co-founder and director of the association Wild Legal. She is the author of: D écoloniser le droit, published by Wildproject (2024), and Justice pour l’étoile de mer : vers la reconnaissance des droits de l’Océan, co-written with François Sarano and published by Actes Sud (2025). Laurent Fonbaustier, professor of public law at Université Paris-Saclay. His research focuses on the history of political ideas and constitutional spaces, fundamental freedoms, and environmental law. He is the author of: La refondation écologique du monde, published by PUF (2026), and Environnement, coll. Le mot est faible, published by Anamosa (2021). Alfredo Gomez-Muller, professor emeritus at Université de Tours (Latin American studies, political philosophy), member of Université Populaire pour la Terre (UPT, Tours), the Interactions Culturelles et Discursives interdisciplinary research unit (ICD, Tours), and the contemporary political theory research group (TEOPOCO, Université Nationale de Colombie). He is the author of Les droits de la Terre-Mère. Nature, Pachamama et buen vivir, published by Wildproject (2024), and Communalisme andin et bon gouvernement. La mémoire utopique de l'Inca Garcilaso, published by Libertalia, 2022. This discussion will be moderated by Anne-Sophie Simpere, a journalist whose work notably appears in Observatoire des multinationales and Reporterre. The Le Pied à Terre bookstore (9 rue Custine, 18e) will be present, and a book-signing session will offer an opportunity to continue the discussion in a more informal setting. Online registration opens on August 31.
Price: Online registration opens on August 31: https://www.billetweb.fr/droitsnature
Source: paris.fr — photo: Photo by visual artist Zazü