Why I support Climate Case Ireland

I support Climate Case Ireland because this case is in my name.
In the acorns’ names.
In the planet’s name.

I support Climate Case Ireland because I worry about the state of the planet my four children will inherit.
I support Climate Case Ireland because it gives me a voice.
Because it is time to roar for the only home we have.

The Irish government are still sitting on their hands when it comes to climate action. Still pandering to powerful business interests and greenwashing their way out of hard decisions, while ignoring their duty of care to the people of Ireland and the living planet.

Climate Case Ireland

This is why an environmental NGO, Friends of the Irish Environment, decided to sue the Irish government for its role in knowingly contributing to dangerous levels of climate change.

“The extreme impacts of climate change are beginning to hit home in Ireland, from severe flooding through ex-Hurricane Ophelia to the ‘Beast from the East’ and the summer drought in 2018. We need to act urgently to ensure this (and worse) does not become the new normal for us and for our children and grandchildren.”

Climate Case Ireland will be heard in the High Court in Dublin on 22nd-25th January. Please sign the petition #InMyName here to show the government that this case is for all of us.

As necessary and laudable as small individual actions are, they will never be enough to tackle climate change.  Governments must step up to the plate and take action to protect their citizens from the worst effects of global warming. Litigation has become the latest tool for citizens to make their voices heard.

Related / Similaire  Time to roar for Planet Earth / Rugir pour la planète

Climate case precedent

While British barrister Polly Higgins is working towards having ecocide, i.e. ecosystem loss or damage caused by corporate and/or State senior officials, recognised as an international crime before the International Criminal Court, there has been a huge rise in the number of court cases brought by NGOs and groups of ordinary citizens against their own governments. 

Climate Case Ireland, and a number of such legal actions around the world, were inspired by the Urgenda case in the Netherlands. 

In 2015, some 900 citizens and the Urgenda Foundation won their climate case against the Dutch government. The State appealed. But the landmark ruling was upheld by the Court of Appeal last October, which “ordered the Dutch Government to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 25% by 2020 compared to 1990 levels. The Court ruled that failure to do so would amount to a violation of the rights of Dutch citizens.”

Other climate cases

In France, the so-called Affaire du Siècle (“the case of the century”) has already gathered over 2 million signatures of support, ahead of its hearing at the Administrative Court of Paris next March.

Four NGOs (Notre Affaire à Tous, ex Environment Minister Nicolas Hulot’s Fondation pour la Nature et l’Homme, Greenpeace France and Oxfam France) are suing the French governement for not implementing its international commitments on climate change, and for failing to protect French citizens’ rights to life and environmental protection.

In the United States, 21 young people, now aged 10 to 21, filed in 2015 a constitutional climate lawsuit, called Juliana v. U.S., asserting that the federal government “has violated the youngest generation’s constitutional rights to life, liberty, and property, as well as failed to protect essential public trust resources.”

A trial date was initially set for 5th February 2018, then for 29th October. But of course, the Trump administration has deployed every tactic under the sun to dismiss the case and delay proceedings. Although there is no new date for trial, preparations are continuing.

Show your support for Climate Case Ireland

You can become a supporter of Climate Case Ireland by adding your name to the petition here. For other ways of supporting the case, including attending the hearing at the Four Courts, Dublin, on 22nd-25th January, please see the Climate Case Ireland website and Facebook page.

Climate Case Ireland
Email info@climatecaseireland.ie
Facebook @climatecaseire
Twitter @climatecaseire
Instagram @climatecaseireland

Government still not tackling climate change? So sue them, by Kevin O’Sullivan in The Irish Times, 12th January, 2019.

Related / Similaire  Cool Planet Champion for Wicklow

 

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One Response to “Why I support Climate Case Ireland

  • John smith
    5 years ago

    Hi Annette just getting round to reading your latest post great to see a family so involved and passionate about climate change I have signed the petition look forward to your next post Regards John

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