Judges snip challenge to EU climate plan before reaching the science

An EU court said the European Commission could not rewrite emissions targets set by lawmakers. Still unanswered: whether Europe’s 2030 climate pledge is strong enough.(CN) — Europe’s 2030 climate target survived a high-stakes challenge in the EU General Court Wednesday, but only because campaigners sought the wrong legal avenue.The General Court of the European Union dismissed an attempt by Global Legal Action Network and Climate Action Network Europe to make the European Commission reconsider national emissions limits through 2030. The applicants claim the figures rely on an unlawfully weak target and an assessment that doesn’t properly address climate science, feasible cuts and fundamental rights.The judges leave the 1.5-degree Celsius (2.7 F) question — whether targets will keep temperatures from rising any more over preindustrial levels — unanswered. The commission’s job, they say, was implementation, not more policymaking. The EU’s main executive body had to convert targets approved by the European Parliament and member governments into annual national limits, without changing the goal itself.The applicants tried to challenge a legislative target through a process designed to review administrative measures, so the judges dismissed the lawsuit without examining whether the 2030 target is strong enough.Judges found the commission took too narrow a view of the environmental rules applicants could invoke and wrongly suggested flaws in a preparatory impact assessment could never be raised indirectly against a later administrative measure.Those mistakes did not change the result.Michael Kalis, a senior research associate specializing in climate litigation at the Berlin-based Institute for Climate Protection, Energy and Mobility, known as IKEM, sees a persistent accountability problem. “The judgment is less a ruling on the adequacy of the EU’s 2030 climate target than a ruling on who is legally entitled to question it,” he said.Kalis said challengers can still contest administrative environmental decisions when officials have genuine discretion. Once legislation fixes the goal, however, the commission cannot change it through internal review, making effective scrutiny of EU-wide targets difficult.The EU has committed to cutting net greenhouse-gas emissions by at least 55% from 1990 levels by 2030. Separate legislation requires a 40% reduction from 2005 levels across transport, buildings, agriculture, waste and small industry. That goal is divided into annual limits for each member state.The commission revised those limits in June 2023. GLAN and CAN Europe sought an internal review two months later, received a refusal in December and sued in February 2024.The groups criticized the judges for declining to examine evidence. They say findings from the EU’s independent climate advisers and Climate Action Tracker show deeper domestic cuts are feasible, Europe’s target falls short of its fair share and a comparable global effort would produce roughly 3 degrees Celsius (5.4 F) of warming. The commission did not contest that evidence.Gerry Liston, GLAN’s legal co-lead specializing in climate litigation, pointed to decisions from the International Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights that support the groups’ point. “Nothing about today’s ruling by the EU court contradicts our position that the EU’s targets are grossly insufficient and therefore illegal,” he said.Western Europe recorded its hottest June and July this year, averaging 2.79 C (5 F) above the 1991–2020 norm. More than 10,000 excess deaths were reported across the continent in the final week of June alone.Sven Harmeling, CAN Europe’s head of climate specializing in EU policy, said wildfires, drought and extreme heat make stronger action urgent as climate laws face growing political pressure.The commission did not respond to a request for comment.Christina Eckes, a professor of European law specializing in climate litigation at the University of Amsterdam, said future challengers should pinpoint where the commission retains discretion, show why its action is unlawful and contest every independent reason for rejection.“The court has clarified the gap in EU climate accountability. NGOs may challenge administrative climate decisions under the Aarhus Regulation, but when the real complaint is that the EU’s legislative climate targets are inadequate, the door remains closed," Eckes noted.The applicants must pay their own legal bills and one-third of the commission’s costs. Eckes said the court reduced their share because the commission’s errors may have prompted the lawsuit.The national limits remain in force, and the strength of Europe’s 2030 climate promise remains untested. The applicants have two months and 10 days from notification to appeal to the Court of Justice on points of law.Courthouse News reporter Eunseo Hong is based in the Netherlands.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads