FINALLY THE LAW IS ON THE SIDE OF THE ENVIRONMENT.

The Dutch Supreme Court, the highest court in the Netherlands, upheld the previous decisions in the Urgenda Climate Case, finding that the Dutch government has obligations to urgently and significantly reduce emissions in line with its human rights obligations. A truly historic outcome! The Urgenda Climate Case against the Dutch Government was the first in the world in which citizens established that their government has a legal duty to prevent dangerous climate change. The District Court of The Hague ruled the government must cut its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 25% by the end of 2020 (compared to 1990 levels). The ruling required the government to immediately take more effective action on climate change.

The District Court’s decision was appealed by the State and upheld by the Court of Appeal. Following this judgment, the State appealed to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court ruled in favour of Urgenda. Read Urgenda’s press release here, the press release of the Supreme Court here and an explanation of the case by the press Justice to the Supreme Court here. In a reflection of the international significance of the case, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has also published a news release about the decision in which she notes that “the decision confirms that the Government of the Netherlands and, by implication, other governments have binding legal obligations, based on international human rights law, to undertake strong reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases.” Lets hope this precedent is the start of something really big, watch this space.

For more information on the case click here.