European Courts Face A Rising Tide Of Climate Litigation

European courts, both at the Union level and the Member State level, are continuously facing a rising tide of climate litigation cases, with different responses.

At the European Union (EU) level, on March 25, 2021 the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) dismissed the so-called "People's Climate case," a legal action brought in 2018 by ten families from European and non-European countries who sought the annulment of the 2018 European legislative package and an order from the court to the EU institutions to set more stringent targets for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.  The CJEU confirmed on appeal the decision of the General Court of the European Union of May 8, 2018, ruling inadmissible the claim, as the claimants were not directly and individually concerned by the legislation they sought to have annulled.