New rulings from across Europe and the world, solidarity call and a webinar invite

It’s been a challenging month but there’s been plenty of legal news and new court cases. Extreme weather event survivors going to court, new ECtHR rulings, wins against Total, wins around Stonehenge and more! There are also some wins to celebrate. 

The goal of this monthly bulletin is to gather some of the many court cases, calls for solidarity and resources, or trainings across Europe. Help us spread the word and ask your friends to sign up here.

NB: We know this is only a small selection, if you have any news, solidarity call out or resource you want us to include in the next bulletin – don’t hesitate to reach out to us at [email protected] 

NEWS & COURT CASES

Norway

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has ruled that Norway must assess the global climate impacts of oil and gas before opening new oil fields on the Norwegian continental shelf in order to comply with the European Convention on Human Rights. The ruling establishes new, binding legal obligations that will reshape how governments approach fossil fuel development. Read more

International

Super Typhoon Odette (Super Typhoon Rai) swept through the Philippines in December 2021, wreaking havoc on multiple islands with its powerful winds and torrential rains that caused landslides and storm surges. Over 10 million people were affected  — some lost their homes and livelihoods, while others lost their lives. Four years later, the survivors are suing British oil giant Shell.

The Odette survivors’ case is both a call for climate justice and systemic accountability: to make polluters pay, end corruption that leaves communities defenseless, and reclaim the Filipino people’s right to a safe and livable future.   Find out more about the case: https://www.odettecase.org

France

Historic Court win! The greenwashing advertising of fossil fuel giant TotalEnergies has been ruled illegal.

A Paris court has found that TotalEnergies misled the public with greenwashing advertising, by claiming itself to be a ‘major player in the energy transition’, despite continuing to promote and sell more fossil fuels.

This ruling marks the first time ever that a Court has found a major fossil fuel company to be misleading the public by ‘greening’ its image.

It’s the result of a case taken in 2022 by Les Amis de la Terre France, Greenpeace France and Notre Affaire à Tous. Read more

Estonia

FFF Estonia went to court again!  This time they are not fighting against the construction and integrated permits for a shale oil plant, but the increase in the oil shale mining volume in the Uus-Kiviõli mines. Read more

UK

NO PRISON FOR PRIVATE JET SPRAYERS! Cole and Jennifer were handed suspended sentences today after spraying two private jets at Stansted Airport hours after Taylor Swift’s jet landed back in June 2024. Read more

STONEHENGE SPRAYERS NOT GUILTY.  A jury has found the two people who sprayed cornstarch over Stonehenge, plus the person who drove them, unanimously not guilty. Read more

Sweden

Swedish police repeatedly harass and detain PHD student threatening deportation to Germany over their climate protest during a Eurovision winner’s show, despite them having a permanent resident permit  since 2019. Over 300 staff of Lund University signed an open letter to end the police harassment of their colleague.

SOLIDARITY & CROWDFUNDING

Portugal

Donate and spread the word  to support a climate activist who faced legal prosecution by the Portuguese state after interrupting a prime minister’s speech in 2019 to denounce the expansion of Lisbon airport.  Link

RESOURCES & EVENTS

• Join this webinar, in which Europe Calling is teaming up with Greenpeace and the Coalition Against SLAPPs in Europe (CASE). Learn, connect, and build solidarity across movements. Together we can stop the abusive practice of SLAPPs, protect free expression, and hold power to account! Register

About Legally Green

Since autumn of 2022, the Movement Hub coordinates Legally Green – an informal network of lawyers who support activists across Europe and activist-led legal support groups. The network has over 100 members from over 60 organizations in more than 20 countries in Europe.
The network operates via mailing list and meets bi-monthly to share experience, discuss cases, trends, get help, learn from each other to increase our collective capacities to resist legal repressions. Contact [email protected] if you have any questions, or wish to join the network.