Our Planet Climate and Geopolitics
In a landmark decision the European Court of Human Rights has ruled that European governments that fail to deal with environmental pollution are violating their citizens’ right to life, breaching the European Convention on Human Rights.
The ruling has wide-ranging implications: it places a legal burden on the state to identify and inform people about pollution and pay to clean it up.
The ruling is in response to a lawsuit brought by a group of Italian citizens from Campania after authorities failed to remove illegally dumped waste. The Italian government has no right of appeal.
The case is groundbreaking, says Malgorzata Kwiedacz-Palosz of the legal pressure group ClientEarth, because the court has said the government has to act not only if people have been harmed by pollution but if they’re in danger of being harmed.
