On December 9, 2024, the youth plaintiffs in Juliana v. United States filed a petition for writ of certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court seeking review of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals’ granting of the federal government’s petition for a writ of mandamus directing the district court to dismiss the lawsuit. On January 7, 2025, the Solicitor General requested an extension until February 12, 2025 for the filing of the government’s response. The petition presented two questions: (1) When plaintiffs have established their ongoing  injuries are traceable to defendants’ policies and practices, does Article III require a particularized factual determination of whether a federal agency or official will redress plaintiffs’ injuries following a favorable declaratory judgment that resolves the constitutional controversy?, and (2) Whether exceptions exist to the three demanding conditions for mandamus articulated in Cheney v. U.S. District Court for District of Columbia, 542 U.S. 367, 380–81 (2004). The plaintiffs argued that the first question was “nearly identical” to the question presented in a case in which the Court is scheduled to hear oral argument later this term. The plaintiffs asked the Court to hold their petition pending the Court’s opinion in the other case and then grant their petition, vacate the Ninth Circuit’s order, and remand to the Ninth Circuit for review. Regarding the second question, the plaintiffs argued that the Ninth Circuit was wrong because it did not apply Cheney’s “demanding conditions” for mandamus and that its decision “deepens an acknowledged circuit split” over whether an exception to Cheney exists when mandamus is sought to enforce an appellate court’s mandate.

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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Juliana Plaintiffs Asked Supreme Court to Review Ninth Circuit Order Directing Dismissal of Their Case

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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 loan is a policy instrument where funds are provided to a borrower with the expectation of repaying the principal plus interest.

Either money or something of monetary value is transferred between two or more organisations, people or countries.

Extreme weather refers to events where a weather variable exceeds (or falls below) a threshold. Meaning it is significantly different from the average or usual weather pattern.

A drought is an extended period of unusually dry weather marked by a significant and sustained lack of precipitation, falling below a specific threshold over a large area for more than a month

Terrestrial means "of the earth" and relates to the risks to ecological system that includes all living organisms and their interactions within land-based environments, such as forests, grasslands, and deserts.

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

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

This sector involves the wholesale and retail selling of goods.

This sector involves activities to move goods and people, alongside the storage of products.

Activities that involve the cultivation of crops and raising of livestock for food, fibre, and other products essential for human life and industry.

Heavy precipitation refers to any form of weather where substances fall from the sky, including rain, snow, sleet, or hail.

Juliana Plaintiffs Asked Supreme Court to Review Ninth Circuit Order Directing Dismissal of Their Case

Policy instrument

Risk

Impacted group

Fossil fuel

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector

Finance