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The State of the Netherlands v Urgenda Foundation : Distilling best practice and lessons learnt for future rights‐based climate litigation
Author(s) -
WewerinkeSingh Margaretha,
McCoach Ashleigh
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
review of european, comparative and international environmental law
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.37
H-Index - 18
eISSN - 2050-0394
pISSN - 2050-0386
DOI - 10.1111/reel.12388
Subject(s) - supreme court , law , judgement , political science , human rights , operationalization , international human rights law , strengths and weaknesses , international law , psychology , social psychology , philosophy , epistemology
On 20 December 2019, the Supreme Court of the Netherlands, in the decision of The State of the Netherlands v Urgenda Foundation , upheld the lower courts’ finding that the State of the Netherlands is legally obliged to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by a minimum of 25 percent by the end of 2020 compared to 1990 levels. The Supreme Court’s widely acclaimed decision is principally grounded in human rights law, with specific standards deduced from international climate change law and science. This case note analyses the role of international law in the Supreme Court’s reasoning, with attention to both strengths and weaknesses of the judgement. First, it highlights parts of the judgement that represent best practice in adjudicating climate change, such as the operationalization of an integrated approach to international law. Second, it identifies human rights questions resulting from the Supreme Court’s narrow focus on the rights of residents of the Netherlands in determining a specific mitigation target. It concludes with reflections on how the universality of human rights can be safeguarded in rights‐based climate litigation before domestic courts.