Center for Biological Diversity v. U.S. Department of State

The federal district court in the District of Columbia again dismissed claims seeking to compel the U.S. Department of State to comply with reporting obligations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The U.S. failed to submit two reports—a “National Communication” and a “Biennial Report”—by a January 2018 deadline. The court found that the plaintiff, Center for Biological Diversity, did not have standing based on informational injury because the UNFCCC did not impose a disclosure obligation either directly on the U.S. or indirectly through a UN disclosure obligation. The court previously dismissed the lawsuit without prejudice in November 2018 for lack of standing.

The federal district court for the District of Columbia ruled that the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) lacked standing to compel the federal government to submit reports required by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The reports—the “national communication” and the “biennial report”—were required to be produced by January 1, 2018. The court found that CBD had not asserted an “informational injury” because it had not alleged that the UNFCCC reports were required to be made publicly available. The court also found that CBD had not succeeded in alleging an “organizational injury” based on the impact of the missed deadline on CBD’s educational and advocacy efforts. The court said CBD had made no allegation that it used its resources to counteract any harm to its interests. The court allowed CBD until December 10, 2018 to amend the complaint.

The Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the U.S. Department of State to compel a response to CBD’s request for records regarding the preparation and production of the “overdue” seventh U.S. Climate Action Report. CBD alleged the U.S. was required to submit the report to the secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change by January 1, 2018. On February 1, CBD submitted a FOIA request seeking a number of categories of records related to the delay and to the content and status of the report.