Lawyer Monthly Magazine - September 2021 Edition

STUDIES OF CLIMATE-BASED RULINGS SO FAR HAVE SHOWN THAT THE JUDICIARY IS NOT PREDISPOSED TOWARDS SUPPORTING CLIMATE ACTION World leaders will gather in Glasgow this November for COP26, a crucial UN climate summit that has been billed as the last major opportunity to strategise a method for keeping the global average temperature increase at 1.5°C. Like the IPCC report, it is expected to build pressure on governments to provide concrete action plans for how this will be achieved. It is predicted that nine years remain before the window for averting the worst consequences of climate change will be closed. We at Lawyer Monthly will continue to cover the progress of legislation to this effect as COP26 approaches and beyond into 2022. On the subject of emerging climate change legislation, Sylvie Gallage-Alwis, partner at the Paris office of Signature Litigation, suggested that to focus on the relative ambitiousness of the new laws would be to miss the point. ”In my view, it is not about whether this legislative progress is enough or not. The real issue is whether the enforcement ability of authorities and Courts is appropriate,” she commented. “Incentivising and having a global approach should be encouraged as scientists insist on the fact that human behaviour is the key to our future.” Climate-related litigation has been on the rise, with landmark cases such as Urgenda Foundation v The State of the Netherlands, a class action that forced the Dutch government to raise its emissions reduction aims. There has also been a notable increase in so-called “greenwashing” accusations. Interestingly, however, studies of climate-based rulings so far have shown that the judiciary is not predisposed towards supporting climate action. One study of 534 US cases leading up to 2016 found that judges ruled in favour of stronger climate action around 40% of the time, compared to around 50% of the time internationally. WWW.LAWYER-MONTHLY.COM 29 WHAT COMES NEXT? THE SIGNIFICANCE OF LITIGATION