Climate change lawsuits have become a new way for countries to assert their rights against actions that degrade the environment. But African countries have yet to fully exploit this route.
In the Netherlands, the court found that greenhouse gas emissions breached the rights to life and private and family life that are protected by the European Convention on Human Rights.
In Germany, the court found that the government had breached the Climate Protection Act by not setting out a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions after 2030. This meant that future generations would unfairly bear the burden of trying to limit climate change.
