The State Council today orders the government to take new measures by June 30, 2024 and to send an interim report laying out these measures and their effectiveness by December 31.
The mayor of Grande-Synthe, a suburb of Dunkerque in northern France, brought the case for “inaction on climate” in 2019, saying that the coastal town was in danger of being submerged.
More emissions action needed
In 2021, judges first ordered the government to reduce greenhouse emissions by 40% compared with 1990 levels by 2030, in line with the Paris Agreement. However, an official charged with evaluating the changes told them last month that he did not believe ministers had done enough to meet targets.
The judges said on 10 May:
Additional measures have indeed been taken and reflect the government’s will to execute the (court) decision.
But they added:
It is still not guaranteed with sufficient credibility that the trajectory of greenhouse gas emissions reduction can effectively be kept up.
The city of Paris, as well as campaign groups like Greenpeace and Oxfam, are also parties to the case. Greenpeace France released a statement, saying:
With this decision, the State Council confirms the government’s failure and the bluff it is keeping up around its climate action – or inaction.
Although the court has required new measures of the government, judges stopped short of ordering financial penalties should the state fail to comply.
Reporting by Agence France-Presse
Featured image via Velvet/Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons 3.0 license, resized to 770*403px
