Abstract
AbstractThis contribution takes the form of an uncommon case report. It discusses an action brought to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) before the final decision has been rendered. The author believes this is justified because the innovative character of the procedural and substantive reasoning of the application could be of interest to a wider public. This may be the case even if the CJEU eventually dismisses the action as being inadmissible, leaving the substantive questions undecided. The applicants in Carvalho and Others v. European Union claim that European Union (EU) law does not limit greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as strictly as is required by EU human rights and international law. The case note explains the parties in the case, the acts being challenged, the relief being sought, and the content and application of the relevant procedural and substantive law. The case is illustrative of the high barriers for direct access to the CJEU, and suggests how they might be overcome. It is also a laboratory for examining the interface of climate science, economics, and law. At this interface, available emissions budgets and the technical and economic feasibility of emissions reductions are calculated and made legally relevant. Carvalho is based on the applicants’ conviction that, where the EU assumes a regulatory competence such as that of GHG emissions reduction, it must exercise it in accordance with its human rights and international obligations.
Highlights
It discusses an action brought to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) before the final decision has been rendered
The case of Carvalho before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), known as People’s Climate Case,[1] is an example of private-public litigation, which denotes private claimants challenging public authorities and, constitutes private-public litigation of a constitutional nature: the claimants strive for better legislation regarding climate change, invoking higher-ranking law which includes fundamental rights and international law.[2]
The effects of climate change, challenges settled case law in terms of both procedure and substance. It puts to test whether the standing requirements for direct access to the CJEU should be reinterpreted in view of the ubiquity of serious harm; discusses fundamental rights doctrine on questions such as causality, geographical reach, and justifiability of interferences; and examines the calculation and allocation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions budgets derived from the limits for temperature increase set by the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.[3]
Summary
The rights in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU (EU Charter)[17] invoked by the applicants include the rights to life and physical integrity (Articles 2(1) and 3(1)), to pursue an occupation (Article 15(1)), to property (Article 17(1)), to equal treatment of young people and people living in developing countries (Article 20), and to the welfare of children (Article 24(1)). The application makes several arguments in support These include that the EU Charter phrases the relevant rights neutrally in terms of personal or geographical scope;[19] that this is common practice in national environmental law, and may be based on the constitutional principle of open statehood.[20] International human rights have been interpreted in the transnational sense of territory and jurisdiction being distinguished, so that citizens living outside a territory may still come within the jurisdiction of states of origin of environmental harm.[21] In the EU, large companies situated in third countries have been accepted to rely on freedom of trade and fundamental rights to occupation, property, and protection of legitimate expectations.[22] The action argues that foreign small and. The applicants understand this to mean that GHG emissions must be reduced as far as is technically and economically feasible
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