The climate lawsuit is celebrating historic success. The Municipal Court in Prague ruled in favor of the civic association – A2larm
The so-called “climate action” is an increasingly widely used legal instrument celebrating success around the world. Globally, more than 600 similar lawsuits have been or are being filed, targeting governments, state institutions or private corporations, alleging that they are not doing enough to mitigate or ongoing climate change. Climate action is therefore based on the existing legal order and on the assumption of the obligation of states to protect their inhabitants from the existential risks of the climate crisis. There are tools that prove to be especially effective in situations where governments and state authorities ignore the voice of the public calling for anthropogenic politics.
However, according to the ruling, it is obliged to actively reduce greenhouse gas emissions so that by 2030 it will achieve a reduction of 55 percent compared to 1990, as part of a specific mitigation strategy that the Czech state has not yet developed.
In such a case, citizens can choose the path of civil disobedience, which is gaining more and more media attention, especially in recent (pre-pandemic) years. Or, for example, the just mentioned path of climate action, using a verdict that will commit governments and state institutions to a truly active solution to the problem of global warming and its local effects.
Of course, the Czech Republic is not a visitor in this area either – the local governments have not addressed the climate for a long time, as a topic they are being pushed into the background or they may not even think that I should address it at all. But that may change now. Spolku Climate action of the Czech Republic A few days ago, the Municipal Court in Prague issued a final judgment in which the association and other plaintiffs (including several individuals or the municipality of Svatý Jan pod Skalou, which is facing the effects of climate change) admit that the ministry industry and trade, agriculture, transport and the environment have infringed their rights through their inadequate greenhouse gas reduction policies.
As the association’s website states: The aim of the lawsuit is court rulings stating that the Czech state authorities have not respected the rights of Czech citizens guaranteed by the Constitution and are not fulfilling their international obligations in relation to climate change. “
This goal has been at least partially achieved. The original version of the lawsuit was also aimed at the Czech government, but the court rejected it. However, according to the ruling, it is obliged to actively reduce greenhouse gas emissions so that by 2030 it will achieve a reduction of 55 percent compared to 1990, as part of a specific mitigation strategy that the Czech state has not yet developed. Such a rate of emission reduction is in line with the applicable pan-European regulation, which also applies to the Czech Republic.
The result is therefore at the moment valid for the mentioned ministry, which, however, is, through its representatives, in favor of the court’s decision at best reserved. It is therefore still possible for the defendant ministries to lodge a cassation appeal with the Supreme Administrative Court to dismiss the action. However, if the ministry fails, climate action will become an important precedent by which the authorities can legally get the authorities to actively mitigate climate change, that is, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in particular.