NGOs sue Commission over 2030 climate targets, ‘green’ shipping and aviation
A plethora of NGOs and NGO coalitions have announced they will each sue the European Commission over its environmental policies, alleging that the Commission lacks scientific evidence to support its decisions.
Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe and the Global Legal Action Network (GLAN) presented their arguments to the General Court of the EU on Tuesday (27 August) that the EU’s 2030 climate targets are insufficient.
Then, on Wednesday, Opportunity Green and four other NGOs announced that they were also taking the Commission to court concerning its inclusion of aircraft and ships in the EU’s sustainable finance rules.
“We don’t take litigation lightly, but this is the only option available to us now under EU law to challenge this”, David Kay, Legal Director at Opportunity Green, told Euractiv.
Although brought before the EU courts by different NGOs and with different objectives, these cases share similar grounds—namely, that the Commission allegedly lacked sufficient scientific evidence to base its environmental policies.
2030 climate targets
The CAN EUROPE and GLAN case aims to force the European Commission to raise the bloc’s 2030 climate ambitions.
Currently, the EU must reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030 compared to 1990. The NGOs argue that this reduction should be 65% and that the Commission should revise the annual emission allowances of member states accordingly.
“We have outlined how the EU’s 2030 targets were not derived from best available climate science, a point which the Commission has not even contested in its defence of our case”, said Gerry Liston, senior lawyer with GLAN, in the accompanying press release.
The NGOs argue that the reduction targets set by member states are insufficient to limit greenhouse gas emissions in the buildings, agriculture, waste, small industry and transport sectors.
They also argue that the current target of a 55% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 is not supported by the relevant scientific data.
The NGOs argue that the current approach is contrary to environmental law, particularly the Paris Agreement, the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, and Article 191 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
‘Green’ shipping and aviation
Opportunity Green’s court case concerns the Commission’s inclusion of aircraft and ships in the EU’s taxonomy regulation. The new rules allow some new aircraft and ships to be labelled green if they meet specific CO2 emission efficiency criteria.
The NGOs argue that these standards are too lax and that new aircraft and ships can too quickly benefit from a ‘green’ label.
In January this year, the NGOs asked the Commission for an internal review of its decision, which it refused in June.
Read more with Euractiv
