A French court found its government guilty of not meeting its commitments to the Paris climate accord.
In what was dubbed the “first major climate trial in France,” the court declared that the French government was guilty of inaction but only ordered it to pay a symbolic fine of 1 Euro to the four nongovernmental organizations that brought a lawsuit against the government.
The court will also decide within two months whether the government will have to take any more actions to rectify its failure to meet its climate obligations.
Oxfam France’s head Cecile Duflot, whose organization was one of the NGOs that filed the lawsuit, called the decision “a historic victory for climate justice.”
The group was joined by Greenpeace and two other environmental organizations in filing the suit, denouncing the French government’s “climate inaction” and circulating a petition that garnered over 2 million signatures.
As part of the terms of the Paris climate accord signed by France in 2015, the country was supposed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40% from 1990 levels by 2030. Complete carbon neutrality was supposed to be achieved by 2050, but last year France chose to defer that commitment.
French President Emmanuel Macron has vowed to make climate policy a cornerstone of his administration but largely failed to uphold his own commitments after playing a large role in bargaining with 196 countries to sign on to the pact.
The United States initially signed on to the agreement under the leadership of President Barack Obama, but American commitment was short-lived after President Donald Trump opted to pull the U.S. out of the deal.
President Biden expressed his desire to rejoin the agreement during the 2020 campaign and declared his administration’s intent to do so on his first day in office.
