ireland

In October 2017, after being inspired by the Juliana litigation, the advocacy group called Friends of the Irish Environment (FEI) sued the Irish government in the High Court for approving the National Mitigation Plan of 2017. FEI argued that the plan violates several laws, including Ireland’s 2015 Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act, the Irish Constitution, and the European Convention of Human Rights (particularly the rights to life and to a private family life) because it doesn’t aim to achieve substantial short-term emissions reductions. FEI asked the court to overrule the government’s approval of the plan and to order the government to develop a new plan if necessary. Although the High Court ruled in favor of the government on September 19, 2019, FEI applied to have an appeal heard at the Supreme Court, arguing that the exceptional circumstances surrounding the case justified a direct appeal that surpassed the Court of Appeal. The Supreme Court granted this application and ultimately overruled the High Court’s decision on July 31, 2020. The Supreme Court based this decision on the fact that the mitigation plan was inconsistent with the statutory requirements of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act. While the Court determined that FIE did not establish standing for its claims under the Irish Constitution and the European Convention of Human Rights, it did recognize that if individuals had brought these constitutional claims, they could have had standing.

While this case is different than Juliana in that it challenges the government’s climate mitigation plan as opposed to government conduct that affirmatively causes climate change, this case sets clear precedent that young people should be granted the ability to have a trial in which they challenge the government for its policies in actions that perpetuate climate change.