NOTRE AFFAIRE À TOUS AND OTHERS V. FRANCE

The Administrative Court of Paris ruled that the French government's failure to implement effective measures to address climate change caused ecological damage. In October 2021, the court ordered the State to take immediate and concrete actions by December 31, 2022, to comply with emission reduction commitments and repair damage by subtracting excess emissions from its 2021 and 2022 targets.

• In February 2021, the Administrative Court of Paris determined that the French government's inaction resulted in ecological damage from climate change, awarding the plaintiffs a symbolic sum of 1 euro for moral prejudice.
• In October 2021, the court mandated that the French government take immediate and concrete steps by December 31, 2022, to meet its emission reduction commitments and repair previous inaction. This includes subtracting emissions that exceeded legislative commitments and adding those reductions to the planned targets for 2021 and 2022.
• The legal arguments for the plaintiffs were based on the French Charter for the Environment, the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (specifically Articles 2 and 8), and the general legal principle that every person has the right to live in a preserved climate system.
• The ruling is noted for its alignment with the Urgenda case in the Netherlands by holding a national government accountable to international emissions obligations and applying the UNFCCC principle of common but differentiated responsibilities. It further allows applicants to seek compensation in kind for ecological damage caused by failing to meet greenhouse gas reduction targets.

APA

Natural Justice (2021). NOTRE AFFAIRE À TOUS AND OTHERS V. FRANCE. https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Notre-Affaire-a-Tous-and-Others-v.-France.pdf

Chicago

Natural Justice. NOTRE AFFAIRE À TOUS AND OTHERS V. FRANCE. 2021. https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Notre-Affaire-a-Tous-and-Others-v.-France.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Natural Justice |title=NOTRE AFFAIRE À TOUS AND OTHERS V. FRANCE |date=December 2021 |url=https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Notre-Affaire-a-Tous-and-Others-v.-France.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{naturaljustice2021notre, author = {{Natural Justice}}, title = {{NOTRE AFFAIRE À TOUS AND OTHERS V. FRANCE}}, institution = {Natural Justice}, year = {2021}, month = dec, url = {https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Notre-Affaire-a-Tous-and-Others-v.-France.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }