Broad and narrow, legal and expressive: The dual nature of Rights of Nature in Europe

Rights of Nature initiatives have been met with considerable scepticism within European legal landscapes. Often termed a ‘legal transplant’, a rights‐based approach to nature is criticised as offering little added value beyond the safeguards provided by traditional environmental law. Yet, as Rights of Nature initiatives gain momentum across Europe, the specific contribution of this approach within the European context merits further investigation. This article maps Rights of Nature initiatives adopted in Europe before and after the landmark Mar Menor Act and distinguishes between two models: a broad Rights of Nature approach, which seeks to confer legal personality or substantive rights on natural entities, and a newly discernible narrow approach, which extends existing anthropocentric participatory rights—such as voting or access to information—to nature. The analysis shows that, while the number of initiatives is growing, few justiciable Rights of Nature norms have thus far taken root in Europe under either model. The article argues, however, that assessing the significance of Rights of Nature in Europe solely through the lens of enforceability is unduly restrictive. Drawing on theories of expressive law and ecolinguistics, it contends that Rights of Nature may exert influence beyond formal legal effects, shaping social norms, political discourse and human–nature relationships through their normative and linguistic force. It conceptualises these broader impacts as the expressive function of Rights of Nature and calls for further research into their legal and societal implications.