Fonti del diritto e cambiamento climatico: il ruolo dei dati tecnico-scientifici nella giustizia climatica in Europa

Sources of law and climate change: the role of scientific-technical data in the European climate justice

Abstract

In recent years, many European countries, and the European Union itself, have declared a state of climate emergency. The failure of states to take the necessary measures to combat this phenomenon and the associated violation of human rights have led to a series of court proceedings aimed to obtain more decisive measures in the fight against climate change from state political bodies, in accordance with the climate obligation stemming from international climate agreements. In spite of their diversity, there are some elements that the climate justice proceedings have in common. In particular, a particular legal relevance of scientific data seems to emerge from court decisions, which assume a decisive role in the judges' interpretative activities. Through the analysis of the jurisprudence related to climate litigation in Europe, this work aims to analyse: a) how these extra-legal elements influence the normative and procedural aspects of climate litigation, contributing to the definition of what could be defined as the new climate constitutionalism; b) whether scientific data can be considered as determining elements in the field of climate justice; c) whether the use of scientific data can assume the contours of an interposed parameter in order to judge the legitimacy or otherwise of a norm or state conduct.