Summary
On May 24 2024, an initiative proposal was submitted to the Amsterdam Municipal Council to recognize rights of nature within the city. The initiative proposes: the active support of the city of Amsterdam for the rights of nature movement; to investigate how it could be legally possible to grant and implement rights to nature in the city; and to proactively disseminate this message to the Amsterdam metropolitan area and the national government.
On July 10 2025, the Amsterdam municipal council voted with 36 in favor and nine against to the aforementioned initiative proposal, and requested the municipal executive to declare:
1) Recognition of non-human life: We have stated that non-human life (from city pigeons to trees, bees, and ditches) has interests. These interests must be incorporated into future policy documents so that the importance of nature is systematically considered in decision-making.
2) Research into legal and administrative anchoring: The municipality will investigate how the rights and perspective of Amsterdam’s natural environment can be anchored in decision-making and all new policies within the city of Amsterdam.
The proposal states that “Although it is not possible for Amsterdam to single-handedly grant legal personality to nature, it is important that we recognize the value of nature in our democracy and that we seek ways to hear the non-human living world and include it in decision-making.
Suggested Citation:
Kauffman, Craig, Catherine Haas, Alex Putzer, Shrishtee Bajpai, Kelsey Leonard, Elizabeth Macpherson, Pamela Martin, Alessandro Pelizzon & Linda Sheehan. Eco Jurisprudence Monitor. V2. 2025. Distributed by the Eco Jurisprudence Monitor.https://ecojurisprudence.org/initiatives/amsterdam-netherlands-proposal-for-rights-of-nature/.
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