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First Czech Climate Litigation from the Perspective of International Environmental Law

Publication |
2023

Abstract

The Czech Supreme Administrative Court dealt with its first case of climate litigation initiated by four natural persons, two associations, and one municipality against the Czech government and four ministries. In February 2023, the Court stated that neither the Paris Agreement nor other sources of international, European, nor Czech law had so far contained a clear obligation of public authorities to mitigate climate change with specific, exactly defi ned measures.

According to the Court, at that time it was still the task of the EU to defi ne the exact goals that would lead to fulfilling the obligations prescribed by the Paris Agreement. Therefore, in the absence of such goals, four Czech ministries have not breached the law or claimant's rights by being insufficiently active in climate change mitigation or adaptation.

Th e Court claimed that if it had decided differently, it would constitute an unacceptable juridical interference with legislative and political powers. The article summarises the litigation and analyses whether and how its outcomes contribute to the development of international environmental law.