judgment

Plan B Earth and Others v. Prime Minister - judgment

<p>This entry was provided by the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law. Please see the terms of use for citation and licensing of third party data.</p>

Litigation

Sabin

Sabin Litigation

complaint

Plan B Earth and Others v. Prime Minister - complaint

Filing Year For Action

On May 1, 2021, Plan B Earth (an environmental charity) and Adetola Stephanie Kezia Onamade, Jerry  Noel Amokawandoh, Marina Xochitl Tricks (three young British citizens), and Timothy John Edward Crosland (together “the Claimants”) filed a petition for judicial review alleging that the UK government violated human rights by failing to implement effective measures to uphold its Paris Agreement commitments. The claimants argue that the Government has failed to produce a coherent plan for addressing the climate emergency. Plaintiffs allege that while the UK government has pledged itself to net zero emissions by 2050, it has undercut this commitment by supporting coal and aviation, granting oil and gas leases, investing more than 25 billion pounds in roads, and financing fossil fuel projects overseas. According to the petition, these policies expose claimants to gross violations of their rights to life, private and family life, and protection from discrimination guaranteed by Articles 2, 8 and 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights, as implemented into UK law by the Human Rights Act 1998. Claimants seek a court order that the UK government must urgently implement a legislative and administrative framework sufficient to uphold its Paris Agreement commitments.

The case was refused permission to proceed on the papers, and went to a renewal hearing (for permission) on November 25, 2021 in the High Court. The court handed down its judgment on 21 December 2021, and permission was refused again.  

Plan B Earth and Others v. Prime Minister

The Climate Litigation Database

Find climate change litigation data and indicators for {text}.

{text} litigation

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law provides Climate Litigation Database, a comprehensive database of US and Global climate change caselaw

Quickly and easily search through the complete text of thousands of climate change law and policy documents from every country.

Search the Climate Litigation Database

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

Activities of businesses and institutions that provide financial services and products to individuals and organisations.

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

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

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

A financial institution that manages a country's currency and can promote climate-related initiatives through green monetary policy and other means.

This sector involves activities that impart knowledge and skills to individuals, including formal schooling, vocational training and educational support.

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

Plan B Earth and Others v. Prime Minister - judgment

Target

Policy instrument

Risk

Impacted group

Fossil fuel

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector

Adaptation/resilience

Finance