Those who risk and violate fundamental rights of individuals by emitting greenhouse gases have a double legal duty: firstly, to stop this violation so that (fundamental) rights are not undermined. Secondly, polluters must pay for the protection of those at risk and for any damage that occurs. In order to enforce these legal obligations in Germany and on the international level, Germanwatch is engaged in climate litigation.
We use litigation as a strategic tool to accelerate political solutions - such as for ambitious climate protection - where politics and business do not act sufficiently. We want to give affected people a voice and support them in taking their concerns to court on behalf of a large number of people, thereby increasing the pressure on politicians and companies to respect human rights and promote sustainable business models. Germanwatch supports the plaintiffs ideally and concretely with advice, expertise, networking and public relations.
A key aspect of strategic climate litigation is that the objectives they pursue go far beyond the individual interests of the plaintiffs. They aim, for example, to improve climate protection and the protection of fundamental rights, to create relevant precedents, to push overdue political decisions and to raise awareness.
Along with more than 54,000 claimants, we are taking the German government to court. We are demanding a national climate policy that protects fundamental rights and liberties today and in the future.
© Christophe Gateau / Greenpeace
In his lawsuit against RWE, Saúl Luciano Lliuya from Peru is demanding that the company contribute to urgently needed protective measures to protect him and the inhabitants of the Andean city of Huaraz from a glacial flood.
In 2020, nine young people between the ages of 15 and 32 from different regions of Germany decided to go to the Federal Constitutional Court to challenge the Federal Climate Protection Act (passed in 2019) because it is too weak to effectively contain the consequences of the climate crisis today and in the future. In spring 2021, the Court announced its groundbreaking decision. It states that today's insufficient climate policies affect tomorrow's freedoms and fundamental rights. It is a constitutional requirement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and this must no longer be delayed at the expense of younger generations. Germanwatch, Greenpeace and Protect the Planet supported the young plaintiffs.
„With this outstanding decision, it is now clear that effective climate protection must happen today and not tomorrow. This is the only way to protect our fundamental rights and our livelyhood in the future. I am very happy about this success and the political dynamics that the decision is already causing“
In May 2018, ten families affected by climate change from Europe, Kenya and Fiji, as well as a Sami youth association, filed a lawsuit with the European Court demanding the protection of their fundamental rights and calling on the European legislator to adapt the European climate targets for 2030 accordingly. The case was dismissed in 2021. Nevertheless, the demands of the plaintiffs were accepted on the political level: the EU adjusted its climate targets for 2030.
As third party intervener Germanwatch supports two climate cases currently pending at the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in Strasbourg:
The lawsuit of six young people from Portugal who are sueing 33 states because they are violating their human rights by not reducing sufficiently their greenhouse gas emissions to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees. The case of the Swiss Climate Senior Women from Switzerland who went to Strasbourg to demand that the federal authorities correct the course of Swiss climate policy because the current climate targets and measures are not sufficient to limit global warming to a safe level and to protect their fundamental rights. The hearing took place in Strasbourg on 29 March 2023.
Both cases were given priority by the ECtHR and referred to the Grand Chamber. Together with partners such as Greenpeace, Scientists for Future and Climate Action Network Europe, Germanwatch is intervening to bring further legal arguments into these proceedings.
