Charter for the Environment

The Charter for the Environment (French: Charte de l'environnement) is a constitutional law of France approved in 2005, forming part of the constitutional block (bloc de constitutionnalité) of French law having the same force as the Constitution.

The Charter recognizes some fundamental rights and duties relating to the protection of the environment and introduces three major principles into the Constitution of France: the principle of prevention (in Art. 3), the precautionary principle, and the polluter pays principle.

The charter project was initiated by the President of the French Republic Jacques Chirac and prepared by a Commission headed by Yves Coppens, professor of anthropology at the Collège de France.

In changing the Constitution, the Charter is one of the Constitutional amendments under the French Fifth Republic.