After the federal district court for the District of Oregon granted the Juliana youth plaintiffs’ motion to amend their complaint to attempt to remedy standing deficiencies identified by the Ninth Circuit, the defendants filed a motion to dismiss the amended complaint. The defendants argued that the amended complaint was “not different in any relevant sense” from the complaint rejected by the Ninth Circuit and that the court therefore should comply with the Ninth Circuit’s mandate and dismiss the amended complaint. In addition, the defendants argued that the plaintiffs did not allege a redressable claim, that the action was not a case or controversy over which a federal court would have jurisdiction, and that the plaintiffs’ claims based on constitutional violations and an alleged public trust failed on the merits because the Constitution does not provide a fundamental right to a “stable climate system” and no federal public trust doctrine applies. The defendants asked that, in the event the court denies the motion to dismiss, that it certify its order for interlocutory appeal.

Action by young plaintiffs asserting that the federal government violated their constitutional rights by causing dangerous carbon dioxide concentrations. [Due to a technical issue, some documents are currently not available.]

Juliana v. United States

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Federal Defendants Asked Oregon Federal Court to Dismiss Juliana Plaintiffs’ Amended Complaint, Said They Would Request Interlocutory Appeal of Order Granting Leave to Amend

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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.

Justice is the ethical and political framework that addresses fairness, including issues of responsibility, rights, and structural inequity.

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

A subsidy is a direct or indirect payment to individuals or businesses, typically provided as a government cash payment or a specific tax reduction.

The processes through which enterprises can identify, prevent, mitigate and account for how they address their actual and potential adverse impacts. Due diligence is the idea that reasonable precautions should be taken to avoid causing harm to people, the environment, or society. It also involves identifying and mitigating risks before they occur.

A ban is a legal action that prevents the sale or supply of a product or service, or that recalls a product from the market. Examples are bans on SF6, greenwashing, fossil fuel advertisement or single-use plastics.

A long-lived, colourless gas, chiefly emitted from fossil fuel combustion, deforestation and cement production.

Oil is a combustible liquid fossil fuel composed mainly of hydrocarbons, occurring as crude oil and refined into petroleum products such as petrol, diesel and kerosene.

Fossil gas, commonly known as natural gas, is a fossil fuel consisting chiefly of methane with smaller amounts of other hydrocarbons and trace gases, found in underground deposits.

People with different national or cultural traditions from the dominant population

Social and cultural groups that share collective ancestral ties to the lands and natural resources where they live, occupy or from which they have been displaced

People whose health, both mental and physical, makes them more vulnerable to the effects of climate change

woman and genders outside of the gender binary

The activities of industries involved in the production, distribution, and sale of energy, including electricity, gas, and renewables.

Activities that involve planning, designing and building infrastructure, residential, and commercial structures.

This sector involves the wholesale and retail selling of goods.

Federal Defendants Asked Oregon Federal Court to Dismiss Juliana Plaintiffs’ Amended Complaint, Said They Would Request Interlocutory Appeal of Order Granting Leave to Amend

Policy instrument

Impacted group

Fossil fuel

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector