Summary:
Greenpeace Italy, together with ReCommon (an Italian association involved in questioning corporate and State power) and twelve Italian citizens from different regions of the country manifestly affected by climate change impacts, filed a lawsuit against ENI, a major oil & gas multinational company, and the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance, which, also through Cassa Depositi e Prestiti S.p.A. (an important public financial institution), has a relevant influence on the corporation.
The applicants asked the Court to ascertain and declare that the defendants share liability for the moral and material damages they suffered to their health, life and properties due to climate change impacts, and for further endangering these same assets.
The claimants allege ENI contributed to climate change as its activities, either industrial, commercial or for transportation of energy products, caused greenhouse gas emissions far beyond the limits suggested by the scientific community, notwithstanding the temperature goals internationally recognized in the Paris Agreement, which implies emissions reductions both in the public and in the private sphere. The claimants argue that the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance and Cassa Depositi e Prestiti S.p.A. (whose majority shareholder is the same Ministry), as shareholders of the oil&gas corporation, could have influenced its strategy concerning the ecological transition away from fossil fuels, but did not leverage their relevant influence in that direction.
The legal strategy is primarily based on Article 2043 of the Italian Civil Code, dedicated to liability for non-contractual damages and interpreted, according to previous case-law, as a tool for human rights protection. The applicants claimed a violation of their rights to life, health, and respect for private and family life, as enshrined in the Italian Constitution, in the European Convention on Human Rights, in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and that ENI shall respect according to the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the OECD Guidelines for multinational enterprises.
The claimants drew on attribution science to argue for the existence of a causal link, and recalled the reasoning of the Dutch courts in the Urgenda case, according to which even a quantitatively relatively low level of greenhouse emissions on the global scale contributes to climate change, meaning that there is a sufficient causal link between those emissions and their present and future adverse effects. In addition, the applicants rely subsidiarily on Article 2050 of the Italian Civil Code, dedicated to liability for dangerous activities, that implies a reversed burden of proof: the defendant shall prove that every measure was taken to prevent the damaging event.
Concerning remedies, the claimants did not ask the Court to quantify the damages. Recalling the case against Royal Dutch Shell (Milieudefensie), they asked the Court to order ENI to reduce its greenhouse emissions by 45% in 2030 compared to 2020 and to align to the 1.5°C temperature goal. They also asked the Court to impose a monetary sanction in case the order is not fulfilled. The applicants also asked the Court to order the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance and Cassa Depositi e Prestiti S.p.A. to adopt a policy defining climate goals to foster as relevant shareholder of the corporation.
This is not the first instance of rights-based climate litigation in Italy: you can read about the previously filed lawsuit against the Italian State here in the Database (A Sud and Others v. Italy).
Further developments:
At the end of July 2023, ENI filed a parallel lawsuit against Greenpeace Italy and ReCommon for defamation through their press and social media campaign (“La Giusta Causa”, The Just Cause) related to the climate case. Greenpeace Italy and ReCommon declared that they consider this lawsuit to constitute a SLAPP, Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation.
In September 2023 the defendants filed their written briefs. All three defendants (ENI S.p.A., the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance, and Cassa Depositi e Prestiti S.p.A.) requested the Court to dismiss the complaint on several grounds, including: an absolute lack of jurisdiction in application of the principle of the separation of powers; a lack of jurisdiction concerning ENI’s operations in States other than Italy; a lack of standing for environmental associations and individuals when a public interest is concerned; indeterminate and ill-founded claims.
An oral hearing was held on 16 February 2024 and another hearing was planned for 13 September 2024. However, the plaintiffs, after the first instance judgment in the A Sud and Others v. Italy case, filed a request with the Italian Highest Court (Suprema Corte di Cassazione, Sezioni Unite Civili) for a separate and anticipated judgment on the sole jurisdiction issue. They also requested the highest court to file a demand with the Constitutional Court to challenge the Ministry of Economy and Finance’s interpretation of the Italian law ratifying the Paris Agreement. On 17 July 2024 the Civil Court of Rome confirmed the suspension of the first proceeding, pending the decision of the Highest Court, expected early in 2025 (or later, depending on whether the Constitutional Court will also be involved).
Notably, in their request to the Highest Court, the plaintiffs mentioned the judgment in the Verein KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz et al. v. Switzerland case (pp. 16-18, 27 of the original text of the request), and, in particular, the statements of the ECtHR related to the role of courts in democratic processes and in climate litigation (§412, §413, §639).
Date of filing:
9 May 2023
Jurisdiction:
Civil Court of Rome
Status of the case:
Pending
Suggested case citation:
Complete case citation: Greenpeace Italia, ReCommon, et al. v. Eni S.p.A., Ministero dell’Economia e delle Finanze, et al., Tribunale di Roma, Seconda Sezione Civile, n. 26468/2023 [Greenpeace Italy, ReCommon, et al. v. Eni S.p.A., Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance, et al., Civil Court of Rome, Second Civil Section, n. 26468/2023]
Suggested case citation: Greenpeace Italia, ReCommon, et al. v. Eni S.p.A., Ministero dell’Economia e delle Finanze, et al.
Documents:
More information:
More information can be found on the dedicated web pages of Greenpeace Italy and ReCommon.
Italian language: all the documents of the proceedings and a review of relevant literature can be found on this website hosting the Observatory on Italian climate change litigation, edited by the students in Comparative Climate Change Law at the University of Salento.
Last updated:
1 August 2024