{"id":22224,"date":"2019-03-15T18:41:00","date_gmt":"2019-03-15T17:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.protect-the-planet.de\/peoples-climate-case\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T14:26:25","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T13:26:25","slug":"peoples-climate-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.protect-the-planet.de\/en\/peoples-climate-case\/","title":{"rendered":"People’s Climate Case"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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The first European climate case<\/h1>

\"The<\/h1>

The real repercussions of climate change are already tangible \u2013 from Fiji to Langeoog. Ten families from Europe and from developing and emerging nations, who are all affected by the climate crisis, took their case to the Court of the European Union in 2018. They claimed the EU climate goals for 2030 were insufficient to avert the dangerous consequences of climate change, and therefore violated the basic human rights of the plaintiffs.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWhat\u2019s it all about?<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t

\u201cThose responsible for the climate crisis should really be taken to court\u201d, said Dorothea Sick-Thies in the year 2016 \u2013 the first impulse to file a court case at the European level.<\/p>\n

The climate case focused on the inadequate climate goals of the EU and insufficient directives for their implementation. The plaintiffs sought climate goals that would protect them, since climate change was already causing damage to their homes and livelihoods, which would only worsen in the future. It was about their basic human right to life and health, the wellbeing of their children, their property and their freedom to earn a living. The plaintiffs were all threatened by such climate change consequences as lack of water, flooding, receding ice and snow, drought and heat waves.<\/p>\n

The European Parliament and Council had resolved to reduce the threshold for greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 compared to 1990 by 40 %.<\/p>\n

However that would allow the continued emission of 60 % of greenhouse gases \u2013 with increasingly devastating impacts on humankind and the environment. Given the necessity to prevent further damage from the ongoing threat of climate change, that is unacceptable.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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People from all kinds of different countries and cultures came before the court in the People\u2019s Climate Case. Sanna, Giorgio, Maurice, Genevi\u00e8ve, Ildebrando, Alfredo, Armando, Dima, Roba, Maike and Lelo have already been affected by climate change and they pleaded for the basic human right to earn a living, as well as for the inviolability of property, health and freedom of personal development.<\/p>\n

The court heard about spring temperatures in February experienced by Saami north of the Arctic Circle, dying coral around the islands of Fiji, shrivelled-up lavender plantations in Provence and the threatened freshwater lens of the East Friesland island of Langeoog. Scientific evidence provided by Climate Analytics confirmed the personal impressions of those affected and showed how real the crisis already is. The economic, health and cultural impacts were not only real, but tangible and measurable.<\/p>\n