The government is being taken to court on Tuesday 23 July over its climate adaptation plan.
Friends of the Earth and two co-claimants say that the National Adaptation Programme fails in its legal duty to protect people, property and infrastructure by lawfully addressing the immediate and foreseeable impacts of climate change. A two-day hearing (23-24 July) will take place at the High Court.
The two co-claimants whose lives are already severely impacted by the climate crisis are:
• Disability activist Doug Paulley has a number of health conditions which are being exacerbated by searing summer temperatures, causing not just great distress and discomfort, but also putting him at increased risk of serious harm.
• Kevin Jordan who was made homeless shortly before Christmas 2023, when his house in Hemsby, Norfolk was demolished after coastal erosion fuelled by sea level rise and severe storms caused by climate change put it in acute danger of falling into the sea.
Friends of the Earth and the co-claimants are particularly concerned that people living in vulnerable situations - such as older and disabled people - and those living in areas most at risk from climate change, are disproportionately affected by the climate crisis and the government’s failure to produce a credible plan to protect them.
A Friends of the Earth press release ahead of the hearing will be issued later this week.
• A Friends of the Earth legal briefing is here: https://friendsoftheearth.uk/climate/our-legal-challenge-national-adaptation-plan
ENDS