France is not doing enough to tackle climate change, the court finds

The signatories hoped to “force the state to take all necessary steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions” to meet the 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) target set in the Paris Agreement, the Paris Agreement said. online petition.

But NGOs accused the country’s authorities of inadequate policies necessary to address climate change, saying greenhouse gas emissions were declining under the current administration “at a rate twice as slow as the trajectories planned by law. “.

The Paris Administrative Court on Wednesday condemned the state to pay one euro ($ 1.20) for moral damages to each of the associations behind the lawsuit, ruling that the failure of the government was “ the collective interests of each of the petitioning associations. undermined, ”the court said in the official communiqué on the case.

Despite the fact that only symbolic damages were awarded, the charities applauded the result.

“This decision marks a first historic victory for the climate and a significant advance in French law. This statement also marks a victory for the truth: so far, the state has denied that its climate policy was inadequate, despite mounting evidence,” they said. . in a statement.

“This is the first recognition by the courts of the French state’s responsibility for its climatelessness,” said Clementine Baldon, a lawyer for one of the NGOs, at a press conference following the ruling.

The judges considered whether there was a causal link between this environmental damage and the various violations alleged against the state in the fight against climate change. They felt that the state should be held responsible for some of this damage if it fulfills its obligations. to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, “the court said.

In order to determine the measures to be imposed on the state to make good the damage caused or prevent its aggravation, the courts opened a further investigation, with a time limit of two months.

Commenting on the emailed statement to CNN, the French Ministry of the Environment admitted that “ indeed the initial goals of the past period have not been achieved, ” but said a new “ Climate and Resilience Act ” was introduced in February Council of Ministers will be presented. 10 and will mark a decisive new step by accelerating France’s ecological transition. “

Currently, the world will warm up by 2.7 degrees Celsius (4.86 degrees Fahrenheit) by the end of the century, according to the Climate Action Tracker (CAT) – a nonprofit analysis group that tracks the government’s climate action. This will lead to more extreme storms, heat waves, greater sea level rise and, for many parts of the world, worse droughts and extreme rainfall.