Initiatives advocating the recognition of the rights of nature are proliferating: the Whanganui River in New Zealand is now a "legal entity"; the Rhone could follow suit, but Europe is lagging in this area. The Call of the Rhone wants to amend this delay.

Current legislation has shortcomings and cannot stop climate change; it is based on the notion of repairing the damage done instead of pres- ervation or prevention. Whereas the new para- digm, which makes it possible to assign a legal personality to a natural entity, makes it possible "to prevent future damage in the face of the cli- mate crisis before it happens, rather than acting after the disasters" explains Valérie Cabanes, a specialist in international law. In New Zealand, as in Canada, two rivers have just been attrib- uted a "legal personality". And in Switzerland? A public campaign initiated by the association Id-eau was launched in September 2021 to give the Rhône the legal means to defend itself. For its director, Frédéric Pitaval, it is necessary to "shake up the dominant ideas" and have the law changed to respond to the climate emergency.

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