France Fails To Fulfill Its Climate Commitments, Court Says

Paris Administrative Court on Wednesday condemned the French State for failing to comply with its commitments in the fight against climate change.

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France has not fulfilled its obligations under the Paris Agreement and the National Low Carbon Strategy on the reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.

The legal litigation against the French state began in December 2018 when Greenpeace, Notre Affaire a Tous, the Hulot Foundation for Nature and Man, and Oxfam sent a letter to President Emmanuel Macron's administration demanding that it must repair the damages caused by its inaction.

In the absence of satisfactory answers, these four NGOs started a formal complaint before the Paris Administrative Court in March 2019.

Later on, the Macron administration rejected the accusations stressing that the 2019 Energy and Climate Law reinforced the CO2 emission reduction targets and set a 40 percent decrease in fossil energy consumption until 2030.

Former Ecology Minister Nicolas Hulot recalled that the Paris Court's ruling is a "victory of those who understand the urgency of the climate crisis."

The legal action against the French state, which the complainants dubbed as "the cause of the century," has been supported by over 2.3 million people.