April 4, 2024
STRASBOURG [FR] – Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) experts will attend the April 9 public hearings at the European Court of Human Rights and will be available to comment on three forthcoming climate change and human rights rulings by the Court.
The three landmark climate lawsuits are:
The forthcoming rulings from the European Court of Human Rights will establish a legal precedent informing how human rights law is interpreted to protect citizens from the climate crisis across all 46 Member States of the Council of Europe.
They are also expected to serve as a blueprint guiding future Court decisions and influence pending and future climate cases in Europe and across the world.
The three cases raise several legal questions regarding States’ obligations in the context of climate change, including in relation to:
- The duty of States to adequately prevent foreseeable human rights harms caused by climate impacts.
- The scope of victim status regarding climate harms, that is who can claim protection and seek remedy from the European Court of Human Rights.
- The duty of States to prevent extraterritorial harms.
- The role of international law, including the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement, and science, in determining the adequacy of State measures to meet their climate-related legal obligations.
CIEL Expert in Strasbourg, France (CET):
- Joie Chowdhury — CIEL Senior Attorney, Climate Litigation and Accountability.
CIEL Expert in the US Pacific Time Zone:
- Nikki Reisch — CIEL Climate & Energy Program Director
For more information and to schedule interviews, please contact:
Niccolò Sarno, CIEL Global Media Relations: press@ciel.org | +41-22-506 80 37
Picture: European Court of Human Rights at European district in Strasbourg, licensed under CC BY 2.0.