Climate Change Litigation and the European Convention on Human Rights

Climate change litigation is on the rise globally. Since 2015, the number of climate-related cases has doubled, and human rights-based climate litigation is increasingly successful, as the recent decision by the UN Human Rights Committee in Daniel Billy and Others v Australia has demonstrated. Yet, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has not yet ruled on the merits of any climate cases. This is soon set to change, following a trio of claims heard in 2023, and the Grand Chamber is expected to hand down its decision in Duarte Agostinho and Others v Portugal and 32 Other States sometime in 2024.

The aim of this paper is to examine the role of the ECtHR in adjudicating climate litigation and the extent to which the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) is equipped to address the human rights issues that arise from climate change. The paper will argue that the nature of the Convention system and the lack of a substantive right to a quality environment within the ECHR makes successful climate litigation at Strasbourg particularly challenging. The climate cases will test the limits of the Court’s liberal interpretation of Article 8 claims in environmental rights cases. Nevertheless, they provide the urgent opportunity to prompt national governments to implement and enforce stronger measures to address climate change.