On 16 December 2024, the Marseille Administrative Court issued a decision condemning the State's failure to take action in relation to pollution of the southern French coastline. The decision is significant in its contribution to a growing body of French caselaw acknowledging how State regulatory inactivity contributes to climate and ecological change.
The decision follows a lawsuit filed by 55 claimants, including advocacy groups such as FARE Sud and Union Calanques Littoral, relating to the former Legré-Mante factory and neighbouring industrial waste deposits.
The claimants were awarded a symbolic one-euro compensation to recognise the damages caused by the State's lack of oversight of industrial activities. The court also ordered the Prefect of Bouches-du-Rhône to implement pollution remediation and safety measures by June 2028.
However, while the courts acknowledged that the State was at fault for not having taken action, it fell short of ordering the State to remedy this damage as the court found it could not establish a direct causal link between State inactivity and the environmental damage having occurred in the first place or deteriorating over time.
The court also rejected the claimants' claims relating to psychological harm linked to ecological anxiety, on the basis of insufficient evidence.
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