EU Climate Change Litigation

Climate change litigation is a widely researched phenomenon and the number of climate cases, on a global scale, is continuously increasing. This book examines in detail climate change litigation taking place at the EU Courts, i.e. the General Court and Court of Justice of the European Union – a jurisdiction that has received relatively little research attention so far. The focus of the book is the standing requirements that private parties must satisfy in order to bring direct actions for annulment before the EU Courts pursuant to Article 263 TFEU, fourth paragraph (the EU standing test). The book contains a thorough examination of how the standing test has been applied and understood in EU climate change litigation, and what the foundational considerations of the test are. Moreover, it is considered whether climate change, and the private rights and interests affected by it, is recognised as a legitimate basis for standing under the test or whether a mismatch is at play. On this basis, the book engages in discussions of the potential implications for the role of the EU Courts and for EU climate law, as well as discussions of how climate change litigation affects the legal development of the EU standing test.

The book is of particular relevance to academics and legal practitioners with an interest in understanding how and why the EU standing test is highly challenging for climate change litigants.

The author, Sine Rosvig Sørensen, holds a masters degree and a PhD in law from Aarhus University. This book is a lightly revised version of her PhD thesis with the same title.