On June 6, 2023, the Montana Supreme Court denied the State defendants’ request for a writ of supervisory control over the trial court to reverse its denial of the State’s motion. The Montana Supreme Court also declined to stay the trial court proceedings. The State defendants argued that a trial was unnecessary because no material facts found at trial would change the case’s legal outcome and because the 2023 amendments to MEPA to explicitly exclude consideration of greenhouse gases in MEPA reviews had removed the language that the plaintiffs challenged. The Supreme Court noted that supervisory control is an “extraordinary remedy” that cannot be used to circumvent the appeal process. The Supreme Court found that the State defendants did not demonstrate that the MEPA amendments altered the plaintiffs’ allegations or the theory of their MEPA-related claim. The Supreme Court also found that the State defendants did not provide a reason why the district court’s ruling could not be reviewed on appeal.

Lawsuit seeking declaration of right under the Montana constitution to a stable climate system and to compel Montana to prepare and implement a remedial plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

State v. Montana First Judicial District Court

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Montana Supreme Court Declined to Intervene in Youth Plaintiffs’ Constitutional Climate Case Against State Defendants; Trial Begins June 12

Filed

United States of America

Montana

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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