Climate change

Question for written answer  E-000787/2021
to the Commission
Rule 138
Valter Flego (Renew)

With a recent ruling in France in which the French Government lost a dispute with four NGOs, we are witnessing a fight against climate change. On the same day, the EU’s highest court ruled that Hungary had ‘systematically and persistently’ breached legal limits on air pollution from particulate matter, in some regions for as long as 12 years.

Cécile Duflot, Executive Director of Oxfam France, one of the NGOs that brought the case, called Wednesday's decision ‘a historic victory for climate justice’.

‘For the first time, a French court has ruled that the state can be held responsible for its climate commitments’. She said the ruling served as ‘a timely reminder to all governments that actions speak louder than words’.

Given the daily warnings made by scientists about the alarming climate situation and the fact that the EU aspires to become climate-neutral, will the Commission, encouraged by these rulings and after analysing the state of the environment and all Member States’ reports, resort to individual warnings, concrete penalties and ultimately lawsuits to do everything possible to protect nature and to implement the necessary measures?