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CLIMATE LAW INSIDER
Newsletter 7/2021, 07 July 2021
List of Contents
*Virtual UNFCCC Conference – Sessions of the Subsidiary Bodies 2021
*Emerging Carbon Regulation in Russia
*Climate Litigation Against Poland for State’s Failure to Act on the Climate Crisis
*People vs. Arctic Oil’ Now Before ECtHR: Norwegian Climate Case on Oil Drilling in the Barents Sea Reaches Next Stage
*Brazilian Prosecutor’s Office Files Case Against Rancher Demanding Climate Compensation
*The First Italian Lawsuit Against the Government over Climate Inaction
*Grande-Synthe v. France: Court Ordered to “Take all the Measures Necessary” to Reduce Emissions
- Virtual UNFCCC Conference – Sessions of the Subsidiary Bodies 2021 -
Throughout June the UNFCCC facilitated “intersessionals” to prepare for negotiations at COP26 in Glasgow this November. Negotiating virtually, the delegations agreed that the talks would be kept informal, i.e. outcomes do not have any legal status. The virtual circumstances did not make it easier to find common ground on issues that have been contested for a long time. Key aspects of the Paris Agreement, e.g. the unmet $100bn pledge on climate finance, substantial disagreement about Art. 6, rules for the Global Stocktake starting in 2023 and other accounting rules, are still not agreed and implemented. In general, the negotiations have been described as being at a stalemate on the implementation of the Paris Agreement. The challenges and tasks for negotiators to address at COP26 are not getting easier. A ministerial meeting organised by designated COP26 chair Alok Sharma at the end of July is now expected to continue preparing possible solution spaces for stalled negotiations. IISD’s Earth Negotiations Bulletin and Carbon Brief provide detailed overviews of the proceedings during SB2021.
Learn more:https://enb.iisd.org/climate/UNFCCC/SB2021/summary
- Emerging Carbon Regulation in Russia -
At the beginning of June, Russia’s lower house (State Duma) approved legislation aimed at limiting greenhouse gas emissions. While the law still needs to be approved by the upper house and the President, its emergence indicates that climate policy is – at least to some degree – climbing up the political agenda in Russia. The law includes obligations for high-emitting companies to report their emissions and encourages them to support environmental restoration projects. Once implemented, investments in carbon capture, recycling and reforestation can be used to receive ‘carbon units’. These aspects of carbon removal were already discussed earlier this year, when the Sakhalin region declared its intention to be carbon neutral by 2025 and to experiment with a carbon crediting system. However, the recent developments on climate regulation are not uncontested. The journal Science, for example, reported on statements from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs pointing to possible “’alternative’ viewpoints on climate change that ‘would not necessarily imply abandoning fossil fuels and limiting industrial growth.’”
Learn more:https://sozd.duma.gov.ru/bill/1116605-7
- Climate Litigation Against Poland for State’s Failure to Act on the Climate Crisis -
Five polish citizen are taking their government to court over climate change, supported by the NGO ClientEarth. The claimants, a farmer, a plant wholesaler, an ecotourism business owner, parents and a youth climate campaigner, are all experiencing the consequences of climate change. Poland meanwhile continues to rely heavily on coal, with no end in sight, and is one of a minority of EU governments which has failed to announce any long-term strategy to meet its obligations under the Paris Agreement. The legal cases are novel in that the claimants are asking the court to find that Polish civil law includes a legally enforceable right to a healthy environment including a safe and stable climate. They argue that their personal rights as enshrined in the Polish Civil Code as well as their human rights, protected by the European Convention of Human Rights, are violated by the Polish government’s lack of action to reduce emissions. They ask the court to find that the State must reduce emissions based on a ‘fair share’ analysis for Poland, conducted by Climate Analytics in line with the 1.5°C temperature goal of the Paris Agreement. The lawsuits were filed individually with three of the five cases filed on the 10th of June, the other two to follow soon.
Learn more: https://www.clientearth.org/latest/latest-updates/news/why-five-polish-citizens-are-taking-their-government-to-court-over-climate-change?utm_source=poland-rights&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=email&utm_content=body-button%20
- ‘People vs. Arctic Oil’ Now Before ECtHR: Norwegian Climate Case on Oil Drilling in the Barents Sea Reaches Next Stage -
After exhausting all national remedies, six young climate activists along with the environmental NGOs Greenpeace and Young Friends of the Earth filed an application in mid-June 2021 against Norway at the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) on Arctic oil drilling. The legal challenge over oil drilling licenses in the Barents Sea, approved for drilling further north than ever before, began five years ago. The claimants relied in their original claims on article 112 of the Norwegian Constitution, which establishes a right to a healthy environment, and argued that this right was violated by the government by granting the challenged licenses. The District Court’s ruling that the oil and gas licenses were valid was affirmed by the Court of Appeal and later upheld by the Supreme Court in a decision from 22 December 2020. Now the claimants have brought the issue to Strasbourg to decide whether allowing new oil drilling in the midst of a climate crisis constitutes a breach of the applicants; human rights, in particular the right to life and the right to private and family life, as enshrined in Art. 2 and 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Learn more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/16/climate-activists-take-norway-european-human-rights-court-arctic-oil-drilling-plans
- Brazilian Prosecutor’s Office Files Case Against Rancher Demanding Climate Compensatio -
The Federal Public Ministry in Amazonas (Public Prosecutor’s Office) has resorted to a new approach in its crackdown on illegal deforestation. In a recent lawsuit against a Brazilian rancher (Dauro Parreiras de Rezende) responsible for illegally deforesting in the south of the state of Amazonas, the public prosecutor's office seeks to hold him responsible for the greenhouse gas emissions resulting from such activity. The Public Prosecutor’s Office deems the rancher to be single-handedly responsible for the deforestation of 2,488.56 hectares between 2011 and 2018, and thus accountable for climate change, collective human rights violations, environmental damages, and compensation for illegal profits from deforestation. The climate damage alone is estimated at R$44.7 million (about € 9 million). According to legal experts, this case is the first of its kind in Brazil, and is currently pending at the 7th Federal Court in Amazonas, thus opening the door for other tort-based climate claims that could bring a powerful precedent to fight deforestation in Amazonia.
Learn more: https://valor.globo.com/brasil/noticia/2021/06/10/mp-responsabiliza-desmatador-por-emissao-de-gases-estufa-no-am.ghtml
- The First Italian Lawsuit Against the Government over Climate Inaction -
The first Italian climate litigation was presented on the 5th of June. The lawsuit was filed with the Civil Court of Rome against the State (represented by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers). Among the 203 plaintiffs in the case, 24 are associations, 17 minors - represented in court by their parents, and 162 adults. The legal action is being promoted as part of an awareness- raising campaign called "Giudizio Universale" (The Last Judgement), to underline the global scope of the climate challenge and the need for urgent action. The lawsuit seeks to hold the Italian State responsible for failing to tackle the climate emergency and plaintiffs argue that any efforts the State did make are insufficient to meet the long-term temperature goal set by the Paris Agreement. The plaintiffs argue this failure resulted in the violation of numerous fundamental rights. Specifically, plaintiffs are asking to the judge to declare that the Italian State is responsible for failing to tackle the climate emergency, to order the State to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 92% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels, applying the principle of equity and the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities.
Learn more: https://giudiziouniversale.eu/
- Grande-Synthe v. France: Court Ordered to “Take all the Measures Necessary” to Reduce Emissions --
On the 1st of July, the French Council of State ordered the government to “take all the measures necessary” to put France back on the right path in terms of its commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In the case brought by the city of Grande-Synthe against France in February 2019, it argued it was particularly exposed to climate change, thus suing the State of France to get the State to take additional measures to reduce greenhouse gases emissions. The government now has 9 months to implement new regulatory actions, after which plaintiffs will show implementation results in a new hearing. If the judges estimate that the actions are still insufficient, they could order a financial penalty, that would apply for every six-month period the State does not implement measures. Corinne Lepage, lawyer for the city of Grande-Synthe, stated: “I am delighted with this historic decision on two counts. Firstly, the Council of State has recognised the impossibility of achieving the old objectives, essentially those resulting from the new objective to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55%. As such, it recognises that the Climate and Resilience law is largely inadequate. Secondly, the commitment made in 2018 by the commune of Grande-Synthe and its former mayor allow France and the Council of State to go down in the history of climate justice at planetary level. I am proud and happy to have taken part in this”.
Learn more: https://www.lemonde.fr/planete/article/2021/07/01/climat-le-conseil-d-etat-donne-neuf-mois-au-gouvernement-pour-inflechir-sa-politique_6086499_3244.html
Climate Discourse
- New Podcast : Climate Discourse -
Climate Discourse”, the podcast of the Carbon & Climate Law Review. Each month, our managing editor Kate McKenzie has a conversation with a representative of a legal discipline about the legal aspects of climate change.
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Kind Regards,
Anne, Juan, and Felix
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