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This briefing details a judgment by the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) delivered on 11 April 2025, which affirmed that poor air quality in South Africa's Highveld Priority Area breaches constitutional rights. The court ruled that the Minister of Environmental Affairs has a legal duty to prescribe regulations under section 20 of the National Environmental Management: Air Quality Act 39 of 2004 (NEM:AQA) to implement and enforce the Highveld Priority Area Air Quality Management Plan, finding that the Minister had unreasonably delayed in doing so.

This amicus curiae brief, submitted by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) and the Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide-US (ELAW), opposes a petition for a writ of mandamus in a case involving the right to a climate system capable of sustaining human life. The brief argues that the district court did not commit a clear legal error in recognizing this right, citing international law, treaties, and foreign and domestic jurisprudence to support the link between a stable climate and fundamental human rights.