Over the past five years, the number of climate lawsuits worldwide has increased more than twofold – from 884 in 2017 to nearly 2,200 in 2022. “There will undoubtedly be more of such cases, resulting from the poor state of the environment, its destructive impact on our health, and the ever-deepening climate crisis,” says Marcin Nowak, Legal Advisor at ClientEarth Lawyers for Earth Foundation. As he emphasizes, Poland needs a framework law on climate protection that would guarantee the right to live in a safe climate. The Foundation has prepared such a draft, modelled on laws from other countries. Similar documents are also being developed in other EU member states.
“In the context of climate change, we have many opportunities – we can sue public authorities, as well as corporations. It’s significant that we can sue for inactivity or actions harmful to climate protection,” says Marcin Nowak to Newseria Biznes Agency.
According to the “Global Climate Litigation Report: 2023 Status Review” prepared by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University, in 2022 the number of court cases related to climate change reached 2,180. Five years earlier there were less than 900, and in 2020 – about 1,500. Some proceedings have already been successful in the past.
“For example, the Urgenda Foundation case before the Supreme Court of the Netherlands, which ordered the Netherlands to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 25 percent by 2020 compared to 1990. Another example is the Neubauer case before the Federal Constitutional Court of the Federal Republic of Germany. The court found part of the federal climate protection law unconstitutional,” points out the legal advisor of the ClientEarth Lawyers for Earth Foundation.
Most of the proceedings take place in the United States (70 percent of all in the last year). Over 60 cases were filed in the European Union, and nine in Poland.
“I can mention a number of lawsuits coordinated by the foundation. Together with GESSEL law firm, we represent five citizens against the State Treasury. In these lawsuits we accuse the State Treasury of inactivity in the context of the climate crisis. These cases are ongoing,” says Marcin Nowak.
Currently, lawsuits most often concern human rights arising from international law and national constitutions, lack (or insufficient) mitigation and adaptation to climate change and its effects, non-abandonment of the use of fossil fuels. As the expert emphasizes, in the future there may be more and more of them.
“However, this results not from changes in law, but rather from the very poor state of the environment and the ever-deepening climate crisis. We should be dealing with a situation where we first establish the rules of the game, and only later enforce them in court. In reality, however, the rules of the game often simply do not exist,” explains the legal advisor. “Polish law is decidedly not climate-friendly. Poland, as one of the last countries in the Union, has not yet adopted a framework law on climate protection. Such laws provide for legally binding targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, also measures for adapting to negative climate changes, finally they provide for securing financial resources that enable the achievement of these targets.”
The draft law on climate protection was prepared by the ClientEarth Lawyers for Earth Foundation. One of the key assumptions is to grant everyone the right to live in a safe climate. This right includes the right to protection from the effects of negative climate changes, as well as the right to demand from public authorities, individuals and legal entities to fulfill their legal obligations related to climate protection. The draft law assumes that Poland will adopt a legally binding target to achieve climate neutrality no later than 2050. To achieve this, the project provides for introducing so-called emission budgets, which will determine the limits of greenhouse gas emissions for the entire country and individual sectors of the economy. In addition, mandatory climate verification would be introduced for investments that could negatively affect the climate. The Climate Protection Board would review the implementation of climate policy.
“The draft climate law prepared by the ClientEarth Lawyers for Earth Foundation has been endorsed by the Climate Coalition. Its aim is to start a discussion on what such a solution could look like. We want it to be a long-term and comprehensive solution. We hope that this issue will be prioritized by both the current and especially the next parliament,” says Marcin Nowak.
As the foundation argues, the assumptions of the draft law have the support of society. Allocating 1% of GDP to pro-climate actions is supported by 76% of society. Slightly fewer (70%) support the introduction of regulations guaranteeing Poland’s achievement of climate neutrality within 20 years.
The introduction of climate law is necessary not only because of growing threats to the natural environment but also from a legal perspective.
Importantly, similar provisions are also introduced by other countries, including 16 EU member states, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and the USA. Estonia and Latvia are working on them, and the Slovak Ministry of Environment presented its project at the beginning of 2023.
“In the newest, very interesting climate ruling from mid-August 2022 in the case of Held v. Montana, the Montana Supreme Court found parts of the state’s hydrocarbon, fossil fuel extraction licensing regulations to be unconstitutional. The laws of this state prohibited the consideration of climate issues in the licensing process. The Supreme Court found this to be inconsistent with the constitutional right of present and future generations to a clean environment; this right also includes the right to live in a safe climate,” adds the legal advisor of the ClientEarth Lawyers for Earth Foundation.
