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Online petition for climate change lawsuit against French government receives record support

A petition launched by French environmental groups calling for legal action against the state for failing to act to curb climate change has received unprecedented public support after weeks of fuel-price protests.

Published: 28 December 2018 15:36 CET
Online petition for climate change lawsuit against French government receives record support
People hold a banner reading "End of the world, end of the month, same culprits, same fight" as they take part in a march against climate change. Photo: AFP
By Friday morning the project, launched by four climate NGOs, had gained just under two million signatures a mere 10 days after going live. 
   
That already makes it the most popular online petition in France's history, easily eclipsing the 1.37 million signatories who resisted changes to the nation's labour laws in 2016. 
   
It also dwarfs the 1.17 million supporters of a demand by one of France's “yellow vest” protesters calling for lower petrol and diesel prices at the pump, launched in May.
   
“It's not just a petition, but also a call for legal action,” said Jean-Francois Julliard, CEO of Greenpeace France, one of the groups behind the initiative.
 
Photo: AFP 
  
The “yellow vest” movement began this year as a protest against planned anti-pollution fuel tax hikes. 
   
At its peak on November 17, nearly 290,000 demonstrators mobilised throughout France, causing widespread disruption. 
   
The protests prompted a climbdown from President Emmanuel Macron's government, which announced all planned fuel tax hikes for 2019 will be scrapped.
   
But this failed to quell the discontent of the “yellow vest” movement which has morphed into a revolt against Macron's policies, his aloof, top-down governing style, and the political class as a whole. 
   
Macron, who earned global plaudits for pledging to “make our planet great again” after taking office, has also come under pressure in recent months from environmental groups which insist more needs to be done to tackle the rising threats of climate change. 
   
His popular environment minister Nicolas Hulot resigned earlier this year over the government's green record, including its walking back on a commitment to reduce reliance on nuclear energy.
   
As greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise in spite of dire warnings from scientists, there is a growing body of legal challenges worldwide against governments and big polluters for endangering the planet.
   
French Environment Minister Francois de Rugy told AFP last week he was “very happy that citizens are mobilising in the name of the climate.”

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CLIMATE

Central and southern Italy brace for storms and heavy snow

Storms and snowfall are forecast across much of central and southern Italy over the next few days, according to weather reports.

Published: 29 November 2021 15:13 CET
Snow is forecast in the hills of much of central and southern Italy.
Snow is forecast in the hills of much of central and southern Italy. Photo: Miguel MEDINA / AFP

Italy’s Civil Protection Department on Monday issued ‘orange’ alerts for bad weather along Campania’s Tyrrhenian coastline and the western part of Calabria, while Sicily, Basilicata, Lazio, Molise, Umbria, Abruzzo, central-western Sardinia, and the remaining areas of Campania and Calabria are under a lower-level ‘yellow’ weather warning.

The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts is warning Italy’s central-southern regions to prepare for a blast of polar air from the Arctic Circle that will bring heavy snowfall, rain and storms, reports national weather forecaster Il Meteo.

The village of Grotte di Castro in the province of Viterbo, two hours’ drive north of Rome, mountainous parts of Sardinia, and much of the province of Campobasso in the central-eastern region of Molise were already blanketed in snow on Monday morning.

The department is responsible for predicting, preventing and managing emergency events across the country, and uses a green, yellow, orange and red graded colour coding system for weather safety reports.

An orange alert signifies a heavy rainfall, landslide and flood risk, while a yellow alert warns of localised heavy and potentially dangerous rainfall.

The current meteorological conditions mean that snow is expected to reach unusually low altitudes of around 450-500 metres, with flakes already falling thickly on parts of the southern-central Apennines mountain range at 500-700 metres altitude.

The hills of Marche, Abruzzo, Molise, Lazio, Sardinia, Campania, Calabria and Basilicata are likely to see heavy snow around the 500m mark, while areas at an altitude of 1000m or higher will see between 50-60 cm of fresh snow.

Affected parts of the country could see 50-60cm of snowfall.

Affected parts of the country could see 50-60cm of snowfall. Photo: Vincenzo PINTO /AFP

In areas where the snow is unlikely to reach, heavy rains and thunderstorms are anticipated, with rain forecast throughout Sardinia, Campania, Calabria and Lazio, reports Il Meteo.

Strong winds are forecast over the whole country, with the island regions of Sicily and Sardinia facing windspeeds of over 100km/hour and the risk of storm surges, according to the national newspaper La Repubblica.

READ ALSO: Climate crisis: The Italian cities worst affected by flooding and heatwaves

The north of the country, meanwhile, will see sun but low temperatures of below 0°C at night in many areas, including across much of the Po Valley.

While conditions are expected to stabilise on Tuesday, cold currents from Northern Europe are forecast to trigger another wave of bad weather on Wednesday and Thursday, with Sardinia and Italy’s western coastline again at risk of storms and heavy rainfall that will move up towards Lombardy, Emilia Romagna and Veneto in the north.

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