A coal plant
Governments have a legal duty to protect citizens from climate change.
This is what the Dutch Supreme Court ruled on Friday, upholding lower court decisions that said climate change is a human rights issue.
The Dutch government is now ordered to reduce the country’s greenhouse gas emissions by 25% below 1990s levels within a year.
The case started in 2013 when Dutch environmental organization Urgenda, on behalf of some 900 Dutch citizens, brought the government to court asking for more stringent climate policies. Urgenda claimed the country’s representatives were aware of the dangers of climate change but were not doing enough to prevent it, knowingly exposing citizens to its effects.
In 2015, the District Court of the Hague issued a judgement that ordered the government to slash emissions by at least 25% before 2020 compared to 1990 levels.
Following governmental appeals, the historic decision has been upheld, first by the Court of Appeal and, now, by the Supreme Court.
“Today, at a moment when people around the world are in need of real hope that governments will act with urgency to address the climate crisis, the Dutch Supreme Court has delivered a groundbreaking decision that confirms that individual governments must do their fair share to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” Urgenda said after Friday’s ruling.
Over the past years, the Dutch government has announced a series of climate initiatives aimed at cutting emissions by 43%-48% before 2030. However, estimates indicate that it will not reach the 25% target next year. The Supreme Court’s ruling may then force the country to introduce more drastic measures.
Since the start of the legal proceedings in 2015, the government has always acknowledged the potentially devastating consequences of climate change but denied that it can be legally obliged to act.
"[This] point of view is rejected in the present case, because there is a violation of human rights by the State which necessitates measures, while the reduction order gives the State sufficient scope to fill in how it implements this order," the Supreme Court ruling stated.
The relevance of the decision goes far beyond the Dutch borders. Inspired by the success of Urgenda’s case, other organizations brought their representatives to court. Similar legal initiatives are taking place in several countries, including Belgium, Canada, Pakistan and the United States.
