MEP Pierre Larrouturou and activists Cyril Dion and Camille Etienne filed a complaint this Wednesday before the Court of Justice of the Republic against Jean Castex and four ministers for their inaction against climate change.

This complaint for abstaining from fighting a disaster also targets the ministers of the ecological transition Barbara Pompili and the Economy Bruno Le Maire, as well as the ministers delegate to Transport Jean-Baptiste Djebbari and Housing Emmanuelle Wargon.

The Court of Justice of the Republic alone is empowered to judge the acts of members of the government in the exercise of their functions.

“We see every day how the climate crisis is getting worse.

The monster is escaping its creators, told AFP Pierre Larrouturou, the state has been condemned for its inaction and despite that, we continue to put patches.

And ministers don't have much to do with it because they don't feel directly affected. ”

"Insufficiency" and "renunciations"

The complaint, which lists the disasters already suffered by France, insists on the “insufficiency” of the “Climate and resilience” bill adopted at first reading in the Assembly and its “waivers” in relation to the proposals of the Citizens' Convention. on the climate (CCC) from which it arises. "By their inertia, by the decisions they have taken deliberately and repeatedly, the ministers responsible for organizing and financing the fight against climate change are complicit in this" crime of humanity against life "of which spoke Jacques Chirac in Johannesburg ”, considers the complaint, with reference to the speech of 2002 where the former president had launched“ Our house is on fire and we are looking elsewhere ”.

The aim of the plaintiffs is not to "cut off heads" or to send ministers to prison, but "to push them to action", before the final adoption of the Climate law, said Pierre Larrouturou. This is why only members of the current government are targeted. “With this threat, they may think twice before making decisions that impact the lives of millions of people,” underlined the young climate activist Camille Etienne.

Taking legal action "is one of the most effective non-violent strategies, even if the procedures are rather long," commented Cyril Dion, one of the guarantors of the Citizen's Climate Convention.

In a decision considered historic by the NGOs, the administrative court of Paris recognized in early 2021 the state "responsible" for failures in the fight against global warming.

In another case, the government must justify its action before the Council of State.

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