Paris seeks personhood status for world-famous River Seine

A tourist enjoying a River Seine cruise in Paris in this June 2024 photo – Photo by Doris Dumlao-Abadilla

PARIS, France — French authorities want to give legal rights to the River Seine to better defend the world-famous waterway in court and protect its fragile ecosystem, part of a global movement to grant legal personhood to nature.

In a resolution adopted on Wednesday, the Paris City Council called on parliament to pass a law granting the Seine legal personhood to enable “an independent guardian authority to defend its rights in court”.

“The Seine must be able to defend itself, as a subject of law and not as an object, because it will always be under attack,” said Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo.

Conservationists have backed granting fragile ecosystems such as rivers and mountains basic legal rights to better protect them.

Precedents

In a world first, New Zealand in 2017 recognized the Whanganui River revered by Indigenous people as a living entity, with legislation combining Western legal precedent and Maori beliefs.

In 2022, Spain granted personhood status to the Mar Menor, one of Europe’s largest saltwater lagoons, to give its threatened ecosystem better protection.

The Paris Council based its decision on the conclusions of a citizens’ convention on the future of the Seine held between March and May.

Fifty citizens chosen at random proposed granting the Seine fundamental rights such as “the right to exist, to flow and to regenerate”.

READ: New Zealand mountain granted personhood, recognized as Māori sacred

Home to 40 fish species

The Seine must be considered an ecosystem that “no one can claim ownership of”, where the preservation of life must “take precedence over everything”, the convention concluded.

It also noted “positive” change, with the Seine now home to around 40 species of fish, compared to only four in 1970.

French authorities spent $1.5 billion ahead of the 2024 Olympics to clean up the Seine, the 777-kilometer (482-mile) river that flows through Paris past the Louvre, Notre Dame cathedral and other iconic landmarks.

River at risk

However, the Seine is threatened by pollution, rising water temperatures and the use of pesticides in agriculture.

READ: Paris mayor to swim in Seine ahead of Olympics

The opening of the river to the public for swimming this summer could present “additional risks”, warned the convention.

Fulfilling a key legacy promise from the Paris Games, authorities are to allow the public to swim from July 5 at three points in the Seine, which is now deemed safe for a dip.