French Courts Ruled On Major Climate Lawsuits Against The State

Published date06 April 2021
Subject MatterEnvironment, Environmental Law, Climate Change
Law FirmJones Day
AuthorMs Armelle Sandrin-Deforge and Nicolas Audifax

Two major climate change lawsuits filed against the French State recently prompted French administrative courts to clarify the extent of France's obligations to adopt measures to comply with its greenhouse gas ("GHG") emission reduction targets as well as the scope of the government's liability for the failure to meet said targets.

On November 19, 2020, the Conseil d'Etat, the French Supreme Administrative Court, issued a partial ruling in the Grande-Synthe matter (link to the decision in French). In this matter, the town and the mayor of Grande-Synthe filed a claim seeking an injunction against the French government to take the necessary measures to reduce its GHG emissions in accordance with its commitments both under the Paris Agreement of 2016 and under various European and French regulations. The Conseil d'Etat dismissed the claimants' right to directly invoke violations of the Paris Agreement as an international treaty, but sustained that the Paris Agreement should be taken into consideration in the interpretation of national regulations. In this context, the Conseil d'Etat ruled that French administrative courts have jurisdiction to order the French government to take measures ensuring that the Paris Agreement objectives are met.

However, the Conseil considered that at this stage of the case, the elements provided by the French State did not allow the judges to assess whether France will be able to comply with its GHG emission reduction targets. Therefore, the Conseil d'Etat granted the Ministry of the Environment a three-month period to demonstrate that these targets will be met. At the end of this period, if the French government fails to provide sufficient elements, the Conseil d'Etat will order the government to take additional measures in order to reduce GHG emissions.

In the second lawsuit, self-proclaimed the "case of the century" ("l'Affaire du siècle"), four non-governmental organizations...

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