Abstract

On 31 st July 2020, the Irish Supreme Court quashed the Mitigation Plan, the cornerstone of the Irish Government’s climate change policy, on the grounds that it was not specific about how to achieve the targets set out in the Climate Act for a transition to a low-carbon economy by 2050. The judgment is important due to its ‘paralysing’ effect on relevant environmental policies and due to the Court’s request addressed to the Government to adopt other and more appropriate measures to achieve the objectives set out in the Climate Act and to fulfil thus positive obligations arising from international instruments in this field area. The Supreme Court’s decision is part of that interesting body of decisions from national and international courts concerning climate change litigations and expressing the attempt by activists and lawyers to use national and international judiciary systems to advance efforts towards mitigation policies from States.