Congratulations to our Spanish partners ILP Mar Menor! Yesterday, July 13 2022, the Spanish Congress voted in favor of a new law, creating legal personhood for the Mar Menor Lagoon, the first European ecosystem to enjoy that status. Under the new law, public administration is ordered to “immediately restrict those activities that may lead to the extinction of species, the destruction of ecosystems or the permanent alteration of natural cycles”. It remains to be seen if European judges and lawmakers will be open to accept a similar shift elsewhere before extreme catastrophe points to the need for change, but important steps have been taken.
To learn more about the legal processes, read this article by rights of nature experts Jessica den Outer and Carolijn Terwindt, or buy our compendium Rights of Nature. Case studies from Six Continents.
