ENVIRONMENTAL COURT CASES ACROSS THE WORLD

The document details the first climate change court case in South Africa, where the High Court in Pretoria ruled that the decision to authorise the 1200MW Thabametsi coal-fired power station was irrational and unreasonable because it lacked a prior climate impact assessment. The court affirmed that climate change poses a substantial risk to sustainable development and intergenerational justice. Despite the court's order for the Minister to reconsider the appeal based on a climate change impact assessment, the Minister upheld the authorisation, leading to further legal challenges and the withdrawal of funding by three commercial banks in January 2019.

• The High Court of Pretoria ruled on 8 March 2017 that the decision to grant environmental authorisation for the Thabametsi power station was based on a material error of law, was irrational, and was unreasonable because the decision-maker failed to consider climate change impacts beforehand.
• The court established that climate change represents a significant risk to sustainable development in South Africa and that considering these impacts is a requirement of intergenerational justice.
• The proposed 1200MW Thabametsi coal-fired power station was projected to have a 40-year operational lifespan and emit 8.2 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent annually, which would account for up to 2% of South Africa's total greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 and up to 3.9% by 2050.
• Following the court's order, the Minister reconsidered the appeal after a climate change impact assessment was conducted but still upheld the authorisation; subsequently, Nedbank, FirstRand, and Standard Bank withdrew their financing for the project on 13 January 2019.

APA

Natural Justice (2019). ENVIRONMENTAL COURT CASES ACROSS THE WORLD. https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Earthlife-Africa_final.pdf

Chicago

Natural Justice. ENVIRONMENTAL COURT CASES ACROSS THE WORLD. 2019. https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Earthlife-Africa_final.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Natural Justice |title=ENVIRONMENTAL COURT CASES ACROSS THE WORLD |date=December 2019 |url=https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Earthlife-Africa_final.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{naturaljustice2019environmental, author = {{Natural Justice}}, title = {{ENVIRONMENTAL COURT CASES ACROSS THE WORLD}}, institution = {Natural Justice}, year = {2019}, month = dec, url = {https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Earthlife-Africa_final.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }