Three young climate activists in Turkey brought a new case to the Council of State on May 8th 2023. Turkey submitted the country's "Updated First NDC" to the UNFCCC Secretariat on April 13th, 2023. The NDC states that "Turkey confirms to reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 41% through 2030 (695 Mt CO2 eq in year 2030) compared to the Business as Usual (BAU) scenario given in Turkey's first NDC (also INDC) considering 2012 as the base year (reference year). Turkey's updated first NDC is economy-wide and includes comprehensive mitigation and adaptation actions as well as consideration of means of implementation. Turkey intends to peak its emissions at the latest in the year 2038."
Alleging that these goals are not sufficient, the Claimants applied to the Council of State and filed a lawsuit against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and The Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, requesting the annulment of NDC. The Claimants asserted that the updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) submitted by Turkey are "climate inaction rather than climate action." Underlining the lack of a transparent process in the preparation of the NDC, they demanded the annulment and renewal of Turkey's unscientific, ineffective, and inadequate climate target.
In their campaign, declaring that holding climate change at 1.5 degrees is a human right, the Claimants state that Turkey's decision to increase greenhouse gas emissions, which is incompatible with the Paris Climate Agreement's goal of holding climate change at 1.5 degrees, violates their human rights. The progress of the climate crisis violates the right to live, the right to intergenerational equality, the right to health, the right to live in a healthy and balanced environment, and many others which were protected by the Turkish Constitution, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the European Convention on Human Rights.
The case was rejected by the Council of State without examination. The high court of the Council of State did not notice the Presidency nor the Ministry and did not ask for an answer about the claims in the case.
The cause for rejection was stated as follows: "The NDC, which was the subject of the claim, is a document concerning the commitments which were included in the Paris Climate Agreement and is a part and within the scope of the agreement. The NDC, alone, does not affect the national legal order. It's only within the extent of a declaration of a pledge to prepare national legal regulations and therefore is not an administrative action. Consequently, it can't be made a subject to an annulment of an administrative action case."
Case Documents:
No case documents are available.