A French court has ordered the state to honour its commitments on cutting carbon emissions and to find ways to repair the damage for exceeding them, in the latest in a series of cases that have condemned France's climate failures, reports RFI.
The Paris administrative court said Wednesday that “for the first time” it was ordering the state “to fix the consequences of its shortcomings in fighting climate change”.
It ruled in favour of four NGOs who brought the case against the French government in 2019 to focus attention on the failures to fight climate change.
A first ruling in February recognised the state’s responsibility in fixing the ecological damage caused by not meeting its emissions goals.
Thursday’s ruling gives the state until 31 December 2022 to find a way to compensate for the extra tonnes of greenhouse gases emitted.
France has committed to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of 40 percent by 2030, compared to 1990 levels, and to reaching carbon neutrality by 2050.