Lawyers sign a petition to facilitate climate lawsuits
By Lo Chi and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer
More than 50 lawyers have signed a petition to allow people to instigate climate-related lawsuits as the government mulls amending the Greenhouse Gas Reduction and Management Act (溫室氣體減量及管理法).
Globally, climate advocates are increasingly using lawsuits in national and international courts as a strategy to prompt action, Environmental Rights Foundation president Lin San-chia (林三加) said yesterday.
This is because demanding legal remedies to climate change might bring about real change, Lin said.
However, Taiwan lacks a theoretical framework and legal mechanisms to tackle such lawsuits, he said.