23 November 2020
On November 19, 2020, the French courts handed down a landmark decision in the fight against climate change, requiring the French government to justify its policy of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The Conseil d’Etat has just declared admissible the appeal lodged by a French coastal municipality considering itself vulnerable to the effects of climate change, against the State’s refusal to take additional measures to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.
Although the Conseil d’Etat declares from the outset that it is not competent to impose the adoption of legislative measures, the high court nevertheless gives the State three months to justify the compatibility of its actions with its 2030 climate objectives.
This decision is historic in that, by not rejecting the appeal and asking the French government to justify its climate policy, the Conseil d’Etat acknowledges that it is competent not only to examine the measures taken but, above all, to impose the adoption of new measures if it considers them insufficient, while refraining from determining their form and content.
In so doing, the high court not only recognizes the binding nature of climate commitments, but also emphasizes that these commitments imply genuine obligations on the part of the State to achieve results.
In the wake of the Urgenda case (The Hague, 2018), French jurisdiction is no longer shying away from the principle of the separation of powers, and is finally giving itself the means to put its stamp on climate justice.
> Link to the Conseil d’Etat decision
Author: Frédérick Garot([email protected])