Climate Litigation and Citizen Suits in the EU

Abstract

Abstract According to the ipcc, climate change causes mass harm and threatens human rights with exponential risks for future generations. The features of climate change impacts and the emerging need for access to ‘climate justice’ clash against procedural rules that imply the protection of individual rights. Despite the appearances, though, climate litigation is not incompatible with the separation of powers principle. This article argues that the EU should promote a harmonized procedural device to protect human rights, the climate and the environment. The eli-Unidroit Rules on collective proceedings, the iba Model Statute’s proposals on ‘citizen suits’, and the existing European legal framework, including the recent ruling of the echr on the Klimaseniorinnen case, constitute important points of reference to work on such a reform.