Nothing like this story represents how humankind must change in order to integrate the environment into its institutions.

Best-seller author Camille de Toledo unfolds the powerful narrative of a global legal turning point: how elements of nature (rivers, lakes, forests, valleys, oceans) can be welcomed in political decision-making institutions.

In 2017, Whanganui River became the first in the world to be considered a legal person. New Zealand’s third-longest river could now be represented in court and had two guardians appointed to speak on its behalf. Since then, natural entities have been seeking the status of legal subjects in Ecuador, Colombia, Canada, the United States and France. After hearing of such experiences, between 2019 and 2021, Camille de Toledo followed the incredible story of the Hearings for a Parliament of the Loire River, a commission that decided the conditions under which a French river can become a legal person.