Summary
On 27 September 2024, an initiative proposal was presented to the Groningen Municipal Council to investigate whether nature or certain nature areas within the Municipality of Groningen could be granted rights and legal personality. This included investigating which nature or nature reserve in Groningen are most suitable for this, finding representation to interpret the voice of nature, and consulting the opinions of residents throughout the process. Various forms for this are elaborated in the proposal.
On 6 May 2025, the proposal was adopted. The Municipality of Groningen will now begin working on the legal details and will consult with knowledge institutions and residents to jointly decide which nature reserves are eligible.
Legal Framing
The initiative proposal states “Giving nature a voice can be done in different ways: by giving nature rights, or by appointing a guardian to stand up for nature…This initiative proposal asks to start the discussion about a voice for nature in the Municipality of Groningen and to investigate together with residents for which areas in the municipality this could be a good solution in order to ensure that nature in Groningen can flourish and biodiversity can be strengthened.”
The proposal outlines two possibilities regarding granting legal personality to nature, “the legal line where a nature area is given legal personality, and a softer line where only a chair is put at the table for a guardian. In the case of legal personality, nature itself can go to court to defend its interests. So not a nature organization, but the nature area itself. A guardian can defend its rights on behalf of nature. A combination of these is also possible.”
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/municipality-of-groningen-netherlands-initiative-proposal-rights-for-nature/.
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