State of the Netherlands v Urgenda Foundation

State of the Netherlands v Urgenda Foundation
Court	Supreme Court of the Netherlands
Decided	20 December 2019 (2019-12-20)
ECLI	ECLI:NL:HR:2019:2006
Transcript(s)	ECLI:NL:HR:2019:2007
Case history
Appealed from	District Court of The Hague
Appealed to	Hague Court of Appeal[1]

State of the Netherlands v Urgenda Foundation (2019) (in Dutch: De Staat der Nederlanden / Stichting Urgenda^{[citation needed]}) is climate change litigation heard by the Supreme Court of the Netherlands related to government efforts to curtail carbon dioxide emissions. The case was brought against the Dutch government in 2013, arguing the government, by not meeting a minimum carbon dioxide emission-reduction goal established by scientists to avert harmful climate change, was endangering the human rights of Dutch citizens as set by national and European Union laws.

The initial ruling in 2015, requiring the government to meet an emissions goal of 25% reduction from 1990 levels by 2020, was upheld through the Supreme Court on appeals, affirming that reduction in emissions was necessary for the Dutch government to protect human rights. It is the first such tort case taken against a government challenging climate change aspects based on a human rights foundation, and the first such successful climate justice case.