Corentin via UNSPLASH
A French court in Paris will begin hearings on January 14 on a case filed two years ago by four NGOs and supported by an online petition of 2.3 million signatures, accusing the French government of failing to act on climate change. The petitioners want the court to hold the French government to account for ecological damage, sending a message to urge other governments to take up stronger climate action.
In a joint statement, the NGOs noted the government’s efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions, which “under this government's five-year term dropped at a pace that was twice as slow as the trajectories foreseen under the law."
Greenpeace France, one of the NGO petitioners along with Oxfam France, said they wanted the court to recognize the state was not doing enough to curb climate change. Citing the increase in natural disasters, the NGOs gathered 100 testimonies as evidence from over 25,000 collected online.
The French government has denied inaction and noted the 2019 energy-climate law that reinforces global commitments, and rejected compensation for ecological damage, stating France cannot be solely responsible for climate change when its global emissions account for 1 percent.
According to the Climate Vulnerable Forum’s tracker, France submitted an enhanced Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) target on emissions and resilience in 2020, as required by the Paris Agreement.
Legal Actions Across the Globe
This French case now adds to a growing campaign by climate activists of pursuing legal action against governments and corporations.
In 2018, in response to an NGO lawsuit, the Netherlands Supreme Court ordered the government to drastically reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 25 percent of 1990 levels by 2020.
Legal action against governments and corporations on climate change has become a globally favorable tool, as 28 countries have filed suits, according to a July 2019 report from the Grantham Research Institute at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).
As litigation is used as a tool to influence policy, the report’s authors say human rights and science play increasingly important roles in the lawsuits.
Beyond the global north, global south countries are also pursuing legal action as a strategy towards climate protection. The first cases of climate change litigation were recorded in Colombia, Indonesia, Norway, Pakistan and South Africa.
According to the LSE report, 43 percent of cases outside the US ruled in favor of climate change action, 27 percent hampered efforts, while others had no impact on existing policy or law.
According to Columbia University research, 84 percent of US climate-related lawsuits filed since the election of Donald Trump have included objectives in favor of climate protection.
While most of the litigation so far has been directed at local and national governments, corporations have been taken to account for not informing shareholders of climate change risks and failing to incorporate climate change into decision making.
While the financial impacts of litigation on governments and companies are real threats, of special significance are the enhanced global policies that can emerge from these lawsuits that allege by contributing to climate change, both governments and companies have failed to protect people from climate change.
That “protection principle” is what can be the most influential point in urging judges to focus on the intersections of science, human rights and the responsibility to protect. (France 24, CNN)