Plaintiffs drop 5 climate cases at Europe's human rights court

Plaintiffs drop 5 climate cases at Europe's human rights court

By Kate Abnett

Five young people are withdrawing climate-change complaints at Europe's top human rights court after a wave of governments agreed to exit an international energy investment treaty.

The plaintiffs filed the cases in 2022 at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), seeking to force Austria and 11 other European countries to leave the Energy Charter Treaty, which protects energy investments including those in fossil fuels.

Clémentine Baldon, the lawyer working on the five cases, told Reuters on Tuesday the plaintiffs had notified the ECHR of their intention to withdraw, and were now awaiting the court's confirmation that the cases would be shelved.

The 1998 treaty allows energy companies to sue governments over policies that damage their investments. In recent years some firms have used it to launch billion-dollar lawsuits against government measures to shut or restrict fossil fuel projects as part of efforts to shift to cleaner energy. Burning fossil fuels is the main cause of climate change.

The 27-country European Union agreed in May to leave the treaty over climate change concerns. About 10 national governments including France, Germany, Poland and non-EU member Britain, have also started the formal process to quit the pact.

"In light of the progress achieved, the plaintiffs have decided to withdraw their complaint," the Veblen Institute, a French think-tank that has supported the complaints, said in a statement.

"Nevertheless they reserve the right to take new legal action against states that do not withdraw from the ECT or other climate-damaging investment protection treaties," it said.

The plaintiffs were young people who said they were adversely affected by climate change. They argued that the treaty had violated their human rights by preventing governments from taking immediate measures to address climate change.