20 december 2019
A Moment of Hope: Urgenda wins historic climate case in Supreme Court of the Netherlands
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.
Today’s decision is the third and final decision in Urgenda’s climate case against the Netherlands and marks Urgenda’s third legal victory. It follows favourable judgments in the Hague District Court in 2015 and the Hague Court of Appeal in 2018.
The Supreme Court upheld the lower courts’ order requiring the Dutch government to reduce Dutch emissions by a minimum of 25% by 2020 compared to 1990 levels. The Supreme Court stated that the Dutch government’s failure to take responsibility for the Netherlands’ contribution to the climate crisis is a breach of its obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights.
As a result of the Supreme Court’s decision, the government will be forced to take additional measures to close the existing gap towards a 25% reduction by 2020, which would likely include the closure of coal fired power plants which opened as recently as 2015 and 2016. In 2018, emissions in the Netherlands were only 15% lower than 1990 levels.
The judgment comes less than a week after the UN climate summit in Madrid failed to deliver the ambitious outcome needed to address the climate crisis. It also comes less than a month after the UN Environment Programme confirmed that emissions reductions must be increased five-fold to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement.
Reactions to the historic ruling include the following:
Damian Rau, one of the co-plaintiffs that initiated the case, stated:
“I was 12 when we first filed our climate case in 2013. It has been a long road since then and nothing much has changed. The slow pace of our government’s actions concerns me and my generation, especially as this is the third time our government has been warned by a court in this manner. I believe that this judgment of the Dutch Supreme Court will set the action we so urgently need into motion and will force governments into taking their responsibility. The judgment is an example to the world that no one is powerless and everybody can make a difference.”
Mary Robinson, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and former President of Ireland, stated:
“After the UN climate talks in Madrid, the urgency of increasing our efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions could not be clearer. We are at real risk of failing to meet our commitments under the Paris Agreement and unleashing untold human suffering. This judgment from the highest court in the Netherlands affirms that governments are under a legal obligation, as well as a moral obligation, to significantly increase their ambition on climate change. Our human rights depend on it.”
Dr. David R. Boyd, UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment, stated:
“This is the most important climate change court decision in the world so far, confirming that human rights are jeopardised by the climate emergency and that wealthy nations are legally obligated to achieve rapid and substantial emission reductions. This is a huge victory for billions of people vulnerable to the devastating impacts of the climate crisis and a timely nail in the coffin of the fossil fuel industry.”
Solomon Yeo, a member of Pacific Island Students Fighting Climate Change, stated:
“The Supreme Court in the Urgenda case has taken a bold and necessary stance that highlights the duty that governments have to protect our human rights and fight climate change. The Dutch court must not be the only court in the world that recognises this duty—the law is clear that governments must take the urgent action that is needed to address the climate emergency.”
Urgenda’s case has transformed climate politics in the Netherlands and inspired lawsuits around the world supported by millions of people seeking to increase action on climate change, including in Belgium, France, Ireland, Germany, New Zealand, the UK, Switzerland, Norway and against the EU.
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Contacts:
or + 31 6 1566 5491
or + 31 6 4178 6101
Pictures and other materials taken at the hearing today, as well as images from the District Court 2015 and Court of Appeal 2018 judgement will be published here:
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Background information:
The measures that Urgenda and 750 organisations offered the government to implement the 25% reduction order from the court are published
here.
For coverage of the judgement of the Court of Appeal in 9 October 2018 see
the Guardian and this
op-ed by Marjan Minnesma.
The Dutch Urgenda Foundation aims for a fast transition towards a sustainable society, with a focus on the transition towards a circular economy using only renewable energy. Urgenda wants to avoid catastrophic climate change as much as possible and at the same time strengthen biodiversity when possible. It works on the solutions required for the necessary transitions, including ‘energy neutral’ houses, and has used litigation in its historic Climate Case to demand more action from the Government.
