The Mexican Supreme Court has invalidated a regulation in relation to the amount of ethanol allowed in gasoline because this of its potential environmental and climate change implications, and because of the failure to provide for the necessary public participation in the decision-making process.
The case was brought after Hurricane Katrina caused serious flooding in New Orleans in 2005. The claim was brought on the basis that the Defendant failed in its duty to protect residents against flooding, because it had not ensured that the flood defences were high enough and strong enough. The claim initially succeeded. Although the […]
A group of property owners around the Muskoka Lakes in Canada brought a claim against the government ministry that was responsible for managing the water levels of the lakes. Since 2010, due to climate change, the property owners’ lands began to be severely affected by flooding of the lakes. They argued that the Ministry had […]
A group of indigenous people from the low-lying islands off the coast of Australia are bringing a complaint against the Australian government. Their islands are under threat by rising sea levels caused by climate change. Part of their argument is that the Australian government’s failure to take adaptation measures, such as building flood defences and […]
In this case, the claimants were group of young people in Colombia who claimed that their rights were infringed by the Colombian government’s failure to do more about reducing climate change by reducing deforestation. The Colombian Supreme Court ordered government departments and ministries to prepare a plan within a specific timeframe to counteract the rate […]
This is a mitigation claim thatis being brought against the government by a woman in rural Pakistan. She is arguing the government’s complete failure to reduce its GHG emissions and approve green energy initiatives violates her constitutional rights to life, dignity and a healthy environment.
A group of youths argued that the US government’s failure to take appropriate mitigation measures violated the public trust because it demonstrates the government is not taking adequate steps to protect the natural resources of the State (which will be impacted by climate change). In 2016, the Oregon Federal Court denied a motion to dismiss […]
A student from New Zealand challenged the government’s decision not to change their 2050 GHG emissions reduction target after the release of the IPCC’s AR5 report, which stated that tougher targets were needed to avoid dangerous climate change. The court ruled that an objective of New Zealand’s Climate Change Response Act 2002 is for New Zealand to […]
In the UK, an environmental organisation brought a case against the government for failing to revise their 2050 mitigation target after the Paris Agreement. The government’s view was that the Paris Agreement’s reference to “pursuing efforts to limit the temperature rise to 1.5 degrees” was only intended to strengthen efforts to limit temperature rises to […]
In 2017, an advocacy group brought a case against the Irish government, arguing that the government’s National Mitigation Plan was unlawful and should be quashed, in part, because it violated Ireland’s Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015. In July 2020, the Supreme Court issued a ruling quashing the Plan. The Irish Climate Action […]
