‘End of the road’ for UK citizens’ climate case rejected by appeal court

Case dismissed

Another attempt to get judges to override Government policy in the name of disputed climate theories falls by the wayside.

The case, brought by 11 members of the public and the NGO Plan B argued the UK’s 2050 climate target was not in line with the Paris Agreement, reports Climate Home News.
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A UK citizens’ lawsuit over the government’s 2050 climate target hit “the end of the road” this week after an appeals court refused to hear the case, the climate legal group Plan B announced.

Plan B and 11 Brits lodged the case in December 2017, seeking to compel business, energy and industrial strategy secretary Greg Clark to raise the country’s target for cutting emissions by mid-century.

The plaintiffs were appealing the High Court’s decision in July not to hold a full hearing of the case. The Court of Appeals, however, sided with the High Court, saying there was “no compelling reason” why it should hear it.

While Plan B said it was disappointed with the ruling, it claimed in a statement on Tuesday that the legal action played a role in pushing the UK government to revisit its 2050 climate goal.

Last year, the government asked the independent Committee on Climate Change to review the 2050 goal in light of the Paris Agreement’s second aim to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5C.

“That review is now well underway, and what matters is that the committee recommends a bold and ambitious target on the basis of the science and the precautionary principle,” said Tim Crosland, director Plan B.

Continued here.