Should a lake be allowed to hire its own lawyer and sue a company?
It may sound unlikely, but that’s the goal of a group of European conservationists.
A newly registered European Citizens’ Initiative petition calls on the European Union to come up with legislation that would let polluted rivers or deforested woodlands “take” their polluters to court, giving natural bodies legal rights akin to those of a company.
If the petition’s backers gather more than a million signatures across at least seven EU countries, the European Commission must at least consider the proposal.