ENVIRONMENTAL COURT CASES ACROSS THE WORLD

The Supreme Court of Spain rejected a motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by environmental activists who argued that Spain's National Energy and Climate Plan failed to align with the Paris Agreement and IPCC recommendations. The court ruled that the government's inactivity persists because it has not fully complied with the Paris Agreement, allowing the challenge to the plan's ambition to proceed.

• Applicants argued that Spain's draft climate plan was inconsistent with the Paris Agreement and IPCC recommendations for limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, specifically noting that the plan set an emissions goal of 23% by 2030 instead of the 55% reduction target required for a 1.5-degree limit.
• The applicants challenged the Spanish government for violating Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the Governance of the Energy Union and Climate Action, asserting that the government failed to approve a National Energy and Climate Plan with 2030 goals and a Long Term Strategy with 2050 goals by 2019.
• The Supreme Court of Spain dismissed the government's motion to dismiss the case, ruling that the lawsuit was not merely about the passage of the National Energy and Climate Plan, but rather its ambition and alignment with the Paris Agreement.
• The Court reasoned that the Spanish government's inactivity is still observable because it has not yet fully complied with the content of the Paris Agreement.
• This case is part of a wider European trend of climate litigation, exemplified by a 2021 European Court of Human Rights case where 33 governments were required to prove they were meeting Paris Agreement emissions reduction obligations following a filing by Portuguese youth activists.

APA

Natural Justice (2021). ENVIRONMENTAL COURT CASES ACROSS THE WORLD. https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Greenpeace-v.-Espana.pdf

Chicago

Natural Justice. ENVIRONMENTAL COURT CASES ACROSS THE WORLD. 2021. https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Greenpeace-v.-Espana.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Natural Justice |title=ENVIRONMENTAL COURT CASES ACROSS THE WORLD |date=December 2021 |url=https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Greenpeace-v.-Espana.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{naturaljustice2021environmental, author = {{Natural Justice}}, title = {{ENVIRONMENTAL COURT CASES ACROSS THE WORLD}}, institution = {Natural Justice}, year = {2021}, month = dec, url = {https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Greenpeace-v.-Espana.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }