Summary:
In June 2021, the Giudizio Universale (The Last Judgment) campaign, coordinated by the environmental justice NGO A Sud, filed a suit before domestic courts in Italy. The suit, which involves more than 200 plaintiffs, alleges that the Italian government has violated fundamental rights due to its failure to take appropriate measures to meet the emissions reductions targets in the Paris Climate Agreement. violating fundamental rights, including the right to a stable and safe climate. The plaintiffs seek an order that the Italian government must cut emissions by 92% by 2030 as compared to 1990 levels. The applicants argue that although some emissions reductions have been achieved since 1990, these amount to only about a 29% reduction as compared to 1990 levels. The applicants submit that this level of reduction is incompatible with the ‘fair share’ of emissions reductions that Italy must implement to meet the 1.5°C target of the Paris Agreement.
Among other rights, the applicants invoke the human right to a stable and safe climate. In their submissions, they base this right on Article 6 of the Treaty of the European Union as well as Articles 2 (right to life) and 8 (right to respect for private and family life) of the European Convention on Human Rights. Although there is no explicit right to a healthy environment in the ECHR, the European Court of Human Rights has an extensive environmental jurisprudence, having decided more than 300 cases with an environmental connection.
Date filed:
5 June 2021
Jurisdiction:
Civil Court of Rome
Further reading:
A summary of the legal action is available here (in Italian).
An English-language summary has been provided here.