NGOs sue Commission over climate targets

A coalition of non-governmental organisations has announced that it will sue the European Commission over insufficient climate targets and policies to cut emissions from maritime and air transport. They want to support their case with scientific studies, Euractiv reported.

Specifically, the organisations are Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe and the Global Legal Action Network (GLAN), which submitted arguments to the General Court of the EU at the end of August that the EU’s 2030 climate targets are insufficient. In the final week of August, Opportunity Green and four other non-profit organisations also announced a similar initiative. In this case, the organisations are targeting the inclusion of aircraft and ships in EU sustainable finance rules.

Although different non-governmental organisations have brought cases before EU courts, and with different aims, the cases have a similar basis. The organisations claim that the Commission allegedly lacked adequate scientific studies and evidence on which to base its decisions in these areas.

The aim of the case brought by CAN Europe and GLAN is to persuade the European Commission to increase the bloc’s climate ambition for 2030. Current European law sets a target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030 compared with 1990. The non-governmental organisations argue that the reduction should be set at 65%. The Commission should also revise member states’ annual allocations of emissions allowances accordingly.

According to the coalition, the 2030 targets were not derived from the best available climate science, a point the Commission allegedly did not dispute in its defence in the case. The non-governmental organisations argue that the emissions reduction targets set by member states are insufficient to limit greenhouse gas emissions, particularly in the buildings, agriculture, waste, small industry and transport sectors, and consider the targets incompatible with the Paris Agreement.

Opportunity Green’s legal case concerns the Commission act that included shipping and aviation in the EU Taxonomy Regulation. The new rules allow some new aircraft and ships to be labelled as sustainable investments if they meet certain CO2 emissions efficiency criteria. The plaintiffs argue that these standards are too lenient and that new aircraft and ships could qualify for the “green” label too quickly.