Summary
On September 24, 2021, a group of citizens in Bavaria, Germany, affiliated with the national Network for the Rights of Nature, launched an initiative to hold a referendum on proposed amendments to Bavaria’s constitution recognizing rights of nature. German law provides a process for state constitutions to be amended via citizen referendums, which occurs in three stages. Advocates of the initiative are currently collecting signatures for the first phase of the referendum, which requires 25,000 valid signatures. If this is achieved, the process will move to a second phase requiring 1,000,000 signatures, followed by a third phase requiring 2,500,000 signatures to hold the vote, which will require a simple majority to pass.
The proposal is to amend Article 101 of the Bavarian Constitution. The original text of Article 101 reads: “Everyone has the freedom, within the limits of the law and good morals, to do anything that does not harm others.” The proposed amendment seeks to change Article 101 to read “Everyone has the freedom, within the limits of the laws and good morals, to do everything that does not harm the rights of others and the rights of the natural environment.”