Climate adaption: Appeal launched over High Court judgment
Friends of the Earth and two co-claimants are appealing against the High Court’s decision in October to reject their legal challenge to the government’s inadequate climate adaptation plans.
The decision to appeal comes as one of the co-claimants - Kevin Jordan - prepares to mark the first anniversary of his Norfolk home being demolished (on 9 December) as a result of coastal erosion [2].
With Storm Darragh set to batter the UK with high winds this weekend, there are fears that the fragile Hemsby coastline could face further erosion [3].
Friends of the Earth is launching the appeal alongside two people whose lives have already been severely impacted by the climate crisis:
- Kevin Jordan, whose home in Hemsby, Norfolk was demolished in December 2023 after coastal erosion, fuelled by sea level rise and severe storms caused by climate change, left it in danger of falling into the sea.
- Disability activist Doug Paulley, who has a number of health conditions which are being exacerbated by searing summer temperatures. He's concerned that the government’s current adaptation plans fail to consider the needs of disabled people – particularly in places such as care homes – putting him and others at risk.
Friends of the Earth and the co-claimants argued that the current National Adaptation Programme (NAP), introduced by the previous government in July 2023, falls far short of what's legally required, with marginalised groups – such as older and disabled people – and those living in areas most exposed to rising global temperatures, disproportionately affected by the impacts of extreme weather and a deficient national adaptation programme.
Friends of the Earth is appealing on the grounds that the judge was wrong to conclude that non-specific and unmeasurable adaptation objectives could be lawfully set under the Climate Change Act, and that an assessment of the risk that the policies and plans would fail to deliver their intended impact was not legally required.
The co-claimants also maintain that their human rights have been breached in the making of the plan, not least due to the lack of efficacy in the programme but also due to the failure to include marginalised groups - such as disabled people - in the decision-making process.
The court is expected to make a decision on whether to allow the appeal in 2-3 months’ time.
As the climate crisis escalates, the effects are increasingly being felt by communities across the country, such as those still dealing with the aftermath of Storm Bert that hit in late November, which left some disabled and elderly people in Wales struggling to get bottled water following fears that tap water may have been contaminated [4].
Kevin Jordan said:
“As the anniversary of my home being lost to coastal erosion approaches, it is heart-breaking to see more homes on the Hemsby coastline under threat.
“Climate change is fuelling this crisis. When I bought my home 15 years ago, I was advised it would be safe for decades to come.
“The government’s climate adaptation plan is seriously inadequate and unless it is massively improved, communities across the country will be at risk from our rapidly changing weather.
“I hope this appeal succeeds and forces the government to give better protection to the hundreds of thousands of homes in England currently at risk of coastal flooding and erosion.”
Doug Paulley said:
“The current National Adaptation Programme is not fit for purpose as it fails to protect disabled people from the impacts of climate change.
“I am delighted that we are appealing against the High Court ruling earlier this year. We need an adaptation plan that better protects us all – especially those most at risk and whose lives are disproportionally affected by our rapidly changing climate.”
Friends of the Earth's head of legal, Will Rundle, said:
“We maintain that the government’s climate adaptation plan is unlawful and believe there are serious errors in the High Court ruling.
“The UK is woefully iIl-prepared for the escalating impacts of the climate crisis, putting millions of people at risk from increasingly severe and more frequent storms, floods and heatwaves.
“The government admits that the previous administration’s approach to climate adaptation has “left Britain badly exposed”. We urgently need a new and robust adaptation programme to help safeguard our homes and communities for the future.”
Ends
Notes:
- Lawyers acting for Friends of the Earth and the two co-claimants had argued that the adaptation plan was unlawful on 4 counts because:
- It breached the Climate Change Act 2008 by failing to set out lawful adaptation objectives.
- It failed to assess and include the risks to delivery of the plans and policies it included.
- It failed to lawfully assess impacts on protected groups under the Equality Act 2010.
It breached the human rights of the two individual claimants under the Human Rights Act, due to the lack of effective provision for human rights exemplified by the specific risks they faced on heat and coastal erosion.
The main grounds of the appeal are that the judge was wrong:
- In his approach to the legal requirements for setting adaptation ‘objectives’ under s58 of the Climate Change Act 2008. And specifically, that 'objectives' for the purposes of section 58 CCA could lawfully be expressed simply as unspecified reductions in risks and/or did not need to be specific and measurable, including so that: they could be effective; progress towards them could later be assessed; and so the public concerned could understand the risk to which they were being put;
- In ruling that there was no legal requirement to assess risk to delivery of the plan’s policies and measures;
- In finding that there was no breach of our co-claimant's substantive and procedural human rights as protected by the Human Rights Act, by misapplying recent case law from Strasbourg;
2. Kevin Jordan’s home in Hemsby, Norfolk was demolished on the weekend of 9 and 10 December 2023. When he bought his house, 15 years ago, he was told it would be safe for another 100 years.
3. Hemsby Lifeboat's warning ahead of Storm Darragh hitting: https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/24773264.hemsby-lifeboats-warning-ahead-severe-storm-hitting/
4. Communities hit by Storm Bert flooding left waiting for bottled water to be delivered: https://uk.news.yahoo.com/communities-hit-storm-bert-flooding-102145085.html
5. In England, 1.9 million homes are currently at risk of coastal flooding and erosion: https://environmentagency.blog.gov.uk/2024/01/30/the-coast-is-clear-strengthening-shoreline-management-planning/
6. A legal briefing on the High Court ruling is here.
7. A press release on the High Court ruling is here.
8. Images of Friends of the Earth and co-claimants outside the High Court hearing in July can be downloaded here. Additional photos/ footage of the co-claimants available are here:https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/ah0rg734u3432t7774in8/AGFPhkcdXMbpAGMd5-oO5KU?rlkey=rphko4atqb89gypc8j5plw5rr&dl=0