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Showing posts from December, 2020

The First French Climate Litigation Ruling - Commune de Grande Synthe

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    By Dr Romain Mauger, Groningen Centre of Energy Law and Sustainability (GCELS) On 19 November 2020, the Conseil d’Etat (the French supreme administrative court) issued a historic ruling in the Commune de Grande Synthe case , potentially the first step towards a landmark climate litigation outcome in France. This ruling was released in the context of a surge in climate litigation cases in France and all over world . For France, the “Affaire du Siècle” case was filed in the Administrative Court of Paris in May 2019 by four NGOs against the government for its failure to act on climate change. And, in January 2020, a group of NGOs and municipalities filed a lawsuit against the oil major Total to force it to rework its “plan of vigilance” and better integrate climate risks as well as to adopt measures to stay in line with the Paris Climate Agreement target of 1,5°C in temperature increase by end of the century. While these cases are still pending, the Conseil d’Etat’s ruling is like