Page - 181 - in Loss and Damage from Climate Change - Concepts, Methods and Policy Options

7 LegalResponses toClimateChange… 181 7.2.1 PublicLawLitigation Publiclawlitigationputstheactionorinactionofnationalauthoritiesunderscrutiny. In common law jurisdictions, such “judicial review” often takes place before an ordinarycourt,whereascivil lawjurisdictionsoftenhavespecificcourts inchargeof administrativeand,mostly, constitutional oversight.Normally, public law litigation is based on the inconsistency of an act or omission of a national authoritywith a rule of higher hierarchical standing.For instance, a regulation couldbe struckbya court because it is incompatiblewith a statute, or the applicationof a statute could besuspendedwhen it is incompatiblewith theconstitution. Public lawlitigationrelatedtoclimatechangehasoftenfocusedontheobligation ofastatetomitigateclimatechangeratherthandirectlyonwaystoaddresslossesand damages.Thedecisionof theUSSupremeCourt inMassachusettsv.Environmental Protection Agency, for instance, forced the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate GHGs as air pollutants. As another example, in 2015, a decision of the DistrictCourt ofTheHague in the case ofUrgendaFoundation v. TheState of the Netherlands found thegovernmentof theNetherlands inbreachof its obligation to mitigate climate change under international lawandordered it to takemeasures to reducenationalgreenhousegasemissionsbyatleast25%until theendof2020based on the1990 levels.This judgment iscurrentlyunderappealand thefinaldecision is still pendingat the timeofpublication. TheNetherlands isoneofvery few jurisdictionswhere international lawobliga- tions are recognised a legal value similar to that of the constitution, thus providing a strongbasis for public law litigationon the implementationof international com- mitments.Nevertheless, thesuccessof theUrgendacase inafirst instance judgment inspired many similar cases such as Juliana v. United States of America on the constitutional protection of future generations against climate change anddecision W1092000179-1/291E[2007]ontheadverserulingtoathirdrunwayontheVienna Airport due to climate change concerns (which has however been reversed by the constitutionalCourt in June2017). Likewise, public law litigation can be used to push a government to promote climate change adaptation or otherwise addressL&D.The case ofAshgarLeghari v.FederationofPakistan regardedanalleged inconsistencyof the limitedeffortsby thegovernmentofPakistantopromoteclimatechangeadaptationwithconstitutional provisionsontheprotectionoffundamentalrights.In2015,theHighCourtofLahore recognised that“thedelayandlethargyof theState in implementing theFramework offend[ed] the fundamental rights of the citizens which need to be safeguarded” (W.P.No.25501/2015,atpara.8).Accordingly, thecourtorderedthegovernmentof Pakistan to takeaction topromoteclimate changeadaptationunder the supervision of anadhocpanel of experts reporting to the court.As this case illustrates, redress canextend farbeyondcompensation. Theeffectofpublic lawlitigation is limitedbytherulesonthebasisofwhichthe actionoromissionofnational authorities canbecontested.Domestic constitutional provisions on the protection of fundamental rights, invoked in the case ofAshgar