Climate action court challenge - Landmark case

The High Court is scheduled to hear a landmark case today.

The Government’s record on trying to avert climate change will be challenged by Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE) who argue that the national mitigation plan does not do enough to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and is a violation of the 2015 Paris Agreement, Ireland’s Climate Act, the Constitution, and human rights obligations.

Unsurprisingly, the case is the first of its kind in the country and follows a challenge which was upheld by Dutch courts two years ago.

Governments in America, Belgium, Switzerland, and New Zealand face similar actions.

Those who would do more to protect our environment have faced huge challenges, everything from sneering disdain to powerful industrial lobbies but all the while the urgency of their cause intensifies.

Tomorrow’s scheduled case raises one of the most important questions of our time — why is it necessary for a group of concerned citizens to challenge a government on an issue as fundamental as this? Or maybe our politicians imagine we are immune to climate change.