Summary:
In March 2024, Hugues Falys, a farmer located in Belgium, filed a legal action at the Commercial Court of Tournai (Belgium) against TotalEnergies. He was joined by Ligue des Droits Humains, Greenpeace Belgium and FIAN Belgium.
The objective of the legal action is to claim compensation for damages suffered by Falys as a result of climate breakdown, and to force TotalEnergies to move away from fossil fuels. The civil liability action is based on articles 1382 and 1383 of the former Belgian Civil Code. In their submissions to the court, the plaintiffs have put forward human rights arguments as one line of interpretation of the relevant provisions, inter alia referring the ECtHR’s judgment in Klimaseniorinnen multiple times.
Relevant developments:
On March 18, the Commercial Court of Tournai found the action to be admissible, thereby recognising that carbon majors can be held accountable in Belgium for causing climate change even if their headquarters is in another state. With regards to the merits of the case, the Court postponed its judgment to 9 September 2026 to await the decision in a similar case against TotalEnergies in France.
See also:
Notre Affaire à Tous and Others v. Total.
Verein KlimaSeniorinnen et al. v. Switzerland.
Links:
For the main conclusions of the plaintiffs (in French), see here.
For an unofficial translation of the main conclusions of the plaintiffs (in English), see here.
For the Court’s admissibility judgment of 18 March 2026 (in French), see here.
Last updated:
20 March 2026.