More than three years after the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the plaintiffs in Juliana v. United States lacked standing for their claims that federal defendants violated their constitutionally protected rights to a stable climate system capable of sustaining human life, the federal district court for the District of Oregon granted the plaintiffs’ motion to amend their complaint to attempt to cure what the district court characterized as “a narrow deficiency with plaintiffs’ pleadings on redressability.” The district court concluded that the Ninth Circuit’s mandate did not require the court “to shut the courthouse doors” on the plaintiffs where the plaintiffs cited intervening precedent and made new factual allegations. In particular, the plaintiffs cited a 2021 Supreme Court decision that held that judicial ability to “to effectuate a partial remedy” satisfies the redressability requirement for standing. The plaintiffs contended that their amended allegations demonstrated that relief under the Declaratory Judgment Act would provide sufficient partial redress of their climate change-related injuries. The plaintiffs also omitted relief that the Ninth Circuit found to be outside the scope of judicial authority, including a request for an order requiring the defendants to develop and implement a remedial plan. The district court found that the proposed amendments were not futile, concluding that “a declaration that federal defendants’ energy policies violate plaintiffs’ constitutional rights would itself be significant relief” and that such relief was “squarely within the constitutional and statutory power of Article III courts to grant.” The court therefore found “that the complaint can be saved by amendment.”

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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Oregon Federal Court Allowed Juliana Plaintiffs to Amend Complaint to Rectify Deficiency Identified by Ninth Circuit

Filed

United States of America

Oregon

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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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Activities of industries that extract natural resources, such as mining, oil, and gas, for commercial use.

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

Climate change impacts our society by disrupting the natural, economic and social systems we depend on. Physical hazards and underlying vulnerabilities can lead to increased resource competition for food and water, which can heighten the risk of conflict.

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.

Oregon Federal Court Allowed Juliana Plaintiffs to Amend Complaint to Rectify Deficiency Identified by Ninth Circuit

Policy instrument

Risk

Impacted group

Fossil fuel

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector