france

Having been inspired by Juliana v. United States, and in consultation with attorneys at Our Children’s Trust, Notre Affaire à Tous filed the self-described “Case of the Century” (L’Affaire du Siécle) against the French State on December 17, 2018, on behalf of four organizations (Notre Affaire, la Fondation Nicolas Hulot, Greenpeace France, and Oxfam France). This case contests France’s inaction on climate change, more specifically France’s noncompliance with its obligations to address climate change under international human rights law, European law, and domestic French law. The primary remedy sought is a court order mandating the French government to develop measures that will “reduce greenhouse gas emissions . . . to a level compatible with the objective of containing the rise in global average temperature to below 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels[.]” Over two million French citizens have signed an online petition in support of the case. On January 14, 2021, the public Rapporteur issued a decision recognizing that France is liable for not taking adequate measures to reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and declaring that France is culpable for part of the country’s climate change-based ecological damage due to its inaction on climate change. The court awarded the plaintiffs a nominal damage award of 1 Euro each and ordered further investigation into France’s climate change actions before ruling on plaintiffs’ request for a court order mandating further state action addressing climate change. In July 2021, finding the government’s climate policies insufficient, the court ordered the government to “take all the measures necessary” to reduce GHG emissions and set a April 2022 deadline for the government to implement new regulatory measures.

This case demonstrates that courts have the authority and duty to review the legality of climate and energy policy, but it is different from Juliana in that it challenges France’s failure to adequately address climate change, as opposed to the affirmative actions France’s government has taken to cause the climate crisis. In addition, the claimants seek GHG emission reductions commensurate with keeping warming below 1.5°C, a level of warming that, if reached, would be catastrophic for young people and the planet.