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Ecodefense & Other NGOs v. Russia - complaint

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On September 11, 2022, activists from several climate groups in Russia filed a case before the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation demanding that the Russian government protect its citizens from the risk of future death or serious illness by keeping global emissions to 1.5-1.8C  in accordance with its obligations under domestic and international law. The plaintiffs request that Russian authorities take measures that will reduce the country’s greenhouse gas emissions, in line with the targets of limiting the global temperature rise to 1.5 °C agreed under the 2015 Paris Agreement. Russia is currently the fourth biggest producer of carbon emissions worldwide, and needs to reduce 31% of its 1991 levels to meet the 2030 goal of the Paris Accords. The plaintiffs contend that Russia’s insufficient measures on climate change are “violating the Russian constitution and the European convention on human rights”. Russia would withdraw from the ECHR on Friday, 16 September, which means the climate lawsuit would be among the last cases in the country that the ECHR could issue a binding agreement on, if it is taken to the European courts. The court denied the application on September 21, and it was subsequently submitted to the European Court of Human Rights.

Proceedings with the European Court of Human Rights are currently pending. In May of 2024, plaintiffs also submitted a constitutional claim to the Russian Constitutional Court, which is currently under review. 

Ecodefense & Other NGOs v. Russia

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An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives