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Two men who say they are being failed by the UK’s flawed response to climate breakdown are taking their case to Europe’s top human rights court.
Doug Paulley and Kevin Jordan say their lives have been ruined by the rising temperatures and extreme weather caused by the climate crisis, and that the government’s response fails to respect their human rights.
UK courts have so far rejected their efforts at forcing the government to rethink its approach, and so they are taking their case to the European court of human rights (ECHR), where they will try to convince judges that their fundamental rights are being violated.
Paulley, who has multiple disabilities exacerbated by rising temperatures, and Jordan, whose seaside home was demolished after severe storms and rising sea level put it at risk of being washed away, say the UK’s approach to the changing climate is flawed.
Adopted in 2023, the UK’s third national adaptation programme (Nap3) sets out the government’s climate adaptation objectives, along with its plans and policies for protecting communities in the UK from the impacts of climate change such as extreme heat, flooding and coastal erosion.
Paulley and Jordan, along with Friends of the Earth, the third claimant in the case, argue that it fails to consider the impact of climate change on marginalised groups, set out lawful “adaptation objectives” or adequately assess risks to the delivery of its plans.
They launched a judicial review of Nap3, but last year the high court rejected their arguments and, in March, the court of appeal refused their application to challenge the ruling. Now they are turning to the ECHR.
In their submission to the ECHR, they will argue that the UK is out of compliance with human rights requirements in how it currently plans for and implements climate adaptation under the Climate Change Act.
In a move that may bolster their case, last week the UK’s statutory climate watchdog, the Climate Change Committee, issued a scathing assessment of the UK’s climate change preparedness.
It judged current plans to protect people, land and infrastructure against extreme weather to be inadequate in the face of the increasingly severe flooding, droughts and heatwaves now affecting the country.
Paulley said: “I’m very hopeful that the ECHR will now take up this important case. Disabled people, who are disproportionately threatened by the impacts of climate change, have been badly let down by this weak and ineffective adaptation programme.”
Jordan said: “Millions of homes across the country are already under threat from the impacts of climate change, and without an adaptation plan that’s fit for purpose many, many more will be put at risk.
“I know what it’s like to lose your home to climate change and will continue to campaign for a vastly improved set of adaptation policies that offers proper protection to our lives and communities.”
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said it could not comment on ongoing legal proceedings.
