After having exhausted all national remedies available, with the final decision from the Austrian Supreme Court communicated to the parties on October 12, 2020, on March 25, 2021, an Austrian citizen with a temperature-dependent form of multiple sclerosis (MS) filed a case against the Austrian government for violations of his human rights for failing to set effective climate measures to reduce GHG emission and ultimately contrast the effect of climate change. In the filing, the petitioner alleges facts, including that most MS patients suffer from Uhthoff’s syndrome, which is a temperature-dependent sensitivity. The sensitivity causes patients like the petitioner to lose more muscular control as temperatures go up. 

The petitioner alleges that through inaction on the climate crisis, the Austrian government has violated his constitutional right to family and private life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and has allowed foreseeable risks to his right to life under Article 8 and 13 of the ECHR. The petitioner also alleges that he has no effective remedy available in the Austrian legal system, which is a violation of his rights under Article 13 of the ECHR. This is because Austrian law does not provide an opportunity to challenge administrative omissions and legislative inaction on the climate crisis, and no administrative body or court is obliged to hear his claims on the merits. Despite the above, the petitioner did try all national court remedies before the Constitutional Court, but the case was dismissed. 

In the Application, the claimant is also requesting for the case to be treated as expedite proceedings under Rule 41, given its extreme urgency and the profound threats to the physical and psychological integrity of the petitioner.

On 18 June 2024, the Government of Austria was given notice of the application alongside questions from the Court to the Parties, some of them referencing the Verein KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz and Others v. Switzerland judgment. At the same time, the Court decided to grant the case priority status under Rule 41 of the Rules of the Court owing to the importance and urgency of the issues raised and the alleged deterioration of Mr Müllner’s health through global warming.

Müllner v. Austria

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Müllner v. Austria - complaint

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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 tax advantage is a fiscal incentive where the government reduces or exempts selected activities, goods or actors from taxes.

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

Tradable permits are market-based tools that grant permission for specific activities, frequently used to regulate emissions. These permits can be issued within a trading system to manage environmental impacts.

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 target to reduce the prevalence of a greenhouse gas over a specific time frame

A commitment to balance GHG emissions with removal by a certain point in time, effectively reducing the net emissions to zero

Using laws and the legal system more broadly to protect vulnerable entities

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

Hot temperature extremes are daily maximum temperatures  that were exceeded on average once in a decade or once in 50 years, and includes heatwaves.

The release of heat-trapping gases, primarily from human activities such as burning fossil fuels, agriculture and industry.

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

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.

Coal is a combustible sedimentary rock formed from carbonised plant matter, rich in carbon and hydrocarbons, and occurring in several main types including hard coal and brown coal.

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

Any compulsory, unrequited payment to the government levied on corporations or individuals. This can be for environmental reasons, such as introducing a Carbon tax to set a price that emitters must pay for the greenhouse gases they emit.

This sector involves managing waste treatment, sanitation, pollution control and environmental cleanup.

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

Activities of government agencies and institutions that provide public services, enforce laws and manage public resources.

This sector includes firms and individuals offering specialised expertise in fields such as law, accounting, consulting, science and engineering.

Slow onset events evolve gradually from incremental changes over many years or from increased frequency or intensity of recurring events. As defined in the Cancun Adaptation Framework (2010), slow onset events include risks and impacts from rising temperatures, desertification, biodiversity loss, land and forest degradation, glacial retreat, ocean acidification, sea level rise, and salinization.

Müllner v. Austria - complaint

Target

Policy instrument

Risk

Impacted group

Just transition

Fossil fuel

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector

Adaptation/resilience

Finance