Category: EU/European Court of Justice

Categories
2024 EU/European Court of Justice European Convention on Human Rights Norway Private and family life Right to life

Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA v. Norway

Summary:
In a case before the EFTA Court concerning the EU’s emissions trading scheme, referred by the Oslo District Court under Article 34 of the Agreement between the EFTA States on the Establishment of a Surveillance Authority and a Court of Justice, the EFTA Court acknowledged the link between human rights and climate change. The case concerned the obligation to surrender greenhouse gas emissions allowances granted under the scheme in the context of a corporate restructuring, with the EFTA Court finding that EU law precludes national legislation from providing that the obligation to surrender emissions allowances may be settled by dividend in a compulsory debt settlement in connection with the restructuring of an insolvent company.

In doing so, the Court held in para. 35 of its ruling (issued in 9 August 2024) that:

[I]t must be recalled that combating climate change is an objective of fundamental importance given its adverse effects and the severity of its consequences, including the grave risk of their irreversibility and its impact on fundamental rights (compare the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights of 9 April 2024, Verein Klimaseniorinnen Schweiz and Others v Switzerland, CE:ECHR:2024:0409JUD005360020).

Suggested citation:
EFTA Court, Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA v. Norway, Case E-12/23, Judgment of 9 August 2024.

Last updated:
2 June 2025

Categories
EU/European Court of Justice Uncategorized

GLAN v. the EU (methane emissions)

Summary:
On 16 October 2024, the Global Legal Action Network (GLAN), which previously supported the Duarte Agostinho climate case at the European Court of Human Rights, announced that it had filed a climate case before the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU). The case argues that the European Union (EU) must address its methane emissions in order to protect human rights from irreversible climate impacts. More concretely, it challenges the EU’s alleged failure to limit methane emissions linked with gas imports.

According to GLAN, this is the first case in Europe focusing on States’ human rights obligations in relation to methane emissions. Arguing that methane emissions are responsible for ca. 30% of global warming, GLAN argues that reductions in methane emissions are necessary to protect human rights against the worsening impacts of climate change.

The case concerns the AggregateEU mechanism, which works to stabilise gas prices. Relying on the landmark KlimaSeniorinnen case before the European Court of Human Rights, GLAN argues that the lack of any limits on methane emissions associated with the gas sold through AggregateEU violates human rights. The application seeks to establish that the EU has a binding obligation to limit the imports of fossil fuels with a high methane intensity.

More information:
More information is available on GLAN’s dedicated case page, available here.

Last updated:
13 November 2024

Categories
EU/European Court of Justice Uncategorized

CAN Europe and Global Legal Action Network (GLAN) v. European Commission

Summary:

CAN Europe and the Global Legal Action Network (GLAN) have taken legal action against the European Commission before the General Court of the EU, challenging its greenhouse gas emissions allocations under the Effort Sharing Regulation (ESR), which covers sectors like buildings, agriculture, waste, transport, and small industry, responsible for about 57% of the EU’s total emissions. The NGOs argue that the Commission’s current climate goals, including the Annual Emissions Allocations (AEAs) for Member States, are insufficient to meet international climate commitments and protect human rights.

In particular, the NGOs argue that the AEAs under the revised 2030 target, set following the ‘Fit for 55’ legislative package, do not sufficiently limit emissions to stay within the 1.5°C global warming target agreed upon in the Paris Agreement. They claim that the Commission failed to conduct proper assessments of global emissions reductions, the EU’s fair share of those reductions, and the impacts of climate change on human rights. The NGOs are pushing for the AEAs to be revised to a more ambitious reduction target of at least 65% by 2030.

Claim:

CAN Europe and GLAN are challenging the European Commission’s decision to set emissions targets for Member States that they deem inadequate to protect fundamental human rights and comply with environmental law. They argue that the Commission’s current Annual Emissions Allocations (AEAs), which allow a 55% reduction in emissions by 2030 compared to 1990 levels, are insufficient. The NGOs claim that the Commission failed to make necessary assessments about the EU’s fair share of global reductions, the feasibility of domestic emissions reductions, and the impacts of climate change on human rights. They demand the Commission to revise the AEAs and increase the EU’s overall 2030 climate target to a 65% reduction in emissions.

Latest Developments and Significance:

In August 2024, CAN Europe and GLAN submitted their final legal arguments to the General Court, marking a significant step in the case. The European Commission is expected to submit its final observations in September 2024. This case follows the Commission’s rejection of the NGOs’ internal review request in December 2023, which prompted the legal action in February 2024. The case has been given priority by the Court due to its urgency.

The case is significant because it directly challenges the EU’s current climate policies, specifically the adequacy of the ‘Fit for 55’ legislative package in meeting global climate goals. A favorable ruling for the NGOs could force the European Commission to revise its emissions targets and adopt more stringent measures to prevent climate change, potentially setting a new precedent for environmental law in Europe. It could also align EU climate action more closely with fundamental human rights and science-based climate targets, as called for by the Paris Agreement.

This case follows the landmark KlimaSeniorinnen ruling from the European Court of Human Rights, which established the requirement for States to adopt science-based emissions targets. If the EU Court takes a similar stance, this case could reshape the legal landscape for climate action within the EU, pushing for more aggressive and immediate measures to combat climate change.

Status of the case:

The case is currently pending before the General Court of European Union.

Links:

The related documents are accessible here, here, and here.

Suggested case citation: CAN Europe and Global Legal Action Network v. European Commission (General Court of the European Union, pending).

Last updated:

13 October 2024.

Categories
EU/European Court of Justice Fossil fuel extraction

Complaint to the European Ombudsman by GLAN, AVAAZ, and others

Summary:
On 25 May 2022, a group of NGOs and their representatives (the Global Legal Action Network (GLAN), AVAAZ, Notre Affairs à Tous, Deutsche Umwelthilfe, and Svitlana Romanko, co-founder of ‘Stand With Ukraine’) filed a complaint with the European Ombudsman concerning the EU’s failure to conduct an environmental and human rights impact assessment before continuing to import oil and gas from Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. They submit that this decision impacts negatively on both GHG emissions and human rights. The complaint argues that climate change is, beyond any doubt, a threat to the enjoyment of human rights, and that this EU decision on oil and gas imports will contribute to the worsening of the related impacts.

More information:

  • The text of the full complaint is available from Climate Case Chart.
  • For a press release on the complaint, see here.

Last updated:
17 August 2023

Categories
2021 Access to a remedy Children and young people EU/European Court of Justice Non-discrimination Private and family life Right to life Victim status

Armando Carvalho and Others v. Parliament 

Summary:
This case, also known as ‘The People’s Climate Case’, was brought by families from different Member States of the European Union. The families, who are active in the agricultural or tourism sectors, brought the case to the General Court of the European Union together with a Swedish association representing young indigenous people. They claimed that the measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that had been laid down by a legislative package from 2018 were not far-reaching enough. They demanded stricter measures: the aim should be to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50 – 60% by 2030, when compared to 1990 levels. In doing so, the applicants argued that an insufficient reduction in greenhouse gas emissions infringed their fundamental rights as enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, namely the right to life (Article 2), the right to the integrity of the person (Article 3), the rights of the child (Article 24), the right to engage in work and to pursue a freely chosen or accepted occupation (Article 15), the freedom to conduct a business (Article 16), the right to property (Article 17) and the right to equal treatment (Articles 20 and 21).

The General Court declared the action inadmissible because the claimants had no locus standi. The claimants appealed to the Court of Justice. They claimed that the Court should set aside the order under appeal, declare the actions at first instance admissible, and refer the case back to the General Court. The Court of Justice dismissed the appeal. The Court held that the claim that an act of the EU infringes fundamental rights is not sufficient to establish admissibility of an action brought by an individual.

Deciding body:
European Court of Justice (European Union)

Date of resolution:
25 March 2021

Admissibility:
The General Court declared the action inadmissible because the claimants did not satisfy any of the locus standi criteria under its strict ‘Plaumann’ test. The Court held that the claimants were not individually concerned, because they were not the addressees of the acts at issue. The Court of Justice dismissed the appeal, and emphasized that the mere fact of alleging that a legal act of the Union infringes fundamental rights does not mean that an individual’s action is admissible; otherwise the meaning of the admissibility requirements laid down in the TFEU would be meaningless. According to the case-law of the Court of Justice, the European Union courts cannot, without exceeding their powers, deviate from the express provisions of the TFEU, this also applies to the fundamental right to effective judicial protection enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union

Full text
The full text of the decision is available here.

Further developments:
EU Regulation 1367/2006/EU, the ‘Aarhus Regulation’, was amended on 6 October 2021. This decision expanded NGO’s abilities to challenge administrative acts contravening environmental law. For an analysis of ensuing developments by Juliette Delarue, see here.

Additional reading:
On the 2019 decision on the case by the General Court, see Gerd Winter, ‘Armando Carvalho and Others v. EU: Invoking Human Rights and the Paris Agreement for Better Climate Protection Legislation’ 9(1) Transnational Environmental Law (2020), 137-164, available here.

Suggested case citation:
ECJ, Armando Carvalho and Others v. The European Parliament and the Council, no. C-565/19 P, Judgment of 25 March 2021.

Last updated:
26 August 2023