Climate justice case with Good Law Project

Climate action works – but the UK isn’t doing enough

Case summary

Global Legal Action Network is working with Good Law Project and our claimants SOS UK, Tipping Point and Save Hemsby Coastline to challenge the UK government. Starmer’s climate framework is so full of holes that it breaches our right to family life. The case builds on the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights in Verein KlimaSeniorinnen, Duarte Agostinho and Carême.

“We are supporting this case because the UK government can and must do much more to prevent us from crossing the many climate tipping points we are so close to, which would have catastrophic consequences, including for the UK.” Gerry Liston, legal co-lead at Global Legal Action Network

We know what climate action looks like: cleaner air, cheaper energy, and healthier communities. So we’ve taken the first step towards a judicial review against the government’s climate framework. It’s time for Starmer to step up and build the future we deserve, before it’s too late.

Case background

As the world faces a climate emergency, the UK government is falling short in doing its part. Keir Starmer abandoned his pledge to invest £28bn on green jobs and infrastructure before he even made it into 10 Downing Street. His government has put a project for drilling in the UK’s biggest oil field at Rosebank, which would release so much carbon dioxide it has already been declared unlawful, back on the table. The government has also given the green light to airport expansion at both Heathrow and Gatwick and is still handing out fossil fuel subsidies worth £17.5bn a year. While the government stalls on climate action, the far right keeps pushing forward the dangerous agenda of the billionaires and oil companies they represent. The science is clear. The technology is ready to roll out. All we need is the political will to make it happen.

Case Timeline

27 February 2026

GLAN and the Good Law Project take the next step in our legal challenge against the UK government’s climate framework: filing an application for judicial review in the High Court.

We argue that gaps in the framework, mean that the UK’s response to the climate crisis is so ineffective that it deprives us all of a right to private and family life. Despite the UK’s obligation to protect people from the serious harm climate change causes to their life, health, well-being, and quality of life.

Alongside our application, we’ve provided evidence from world-leading experts and our
claimants, who represent those facing the most devastating impacts of the climate crisis
here in the UK.

November 2025

GLAN and Good Law Project launch case, supporting claimants Save Hemsby Coastline, Tipping Point, and SOS UK, civil society organisations on the frontlines of climate justice work in the UK. The case seeks to push the UK government to do its fair share to address the global climate crisis, prevent catastrophic global heating and build a future we all deserve.

Our Newsletter

Subscribe to our Newsletter to hear the latest news.

Case Partner

Good Law Project

Good Law Project are powered by people across the UK, bringing together legal action, investigations and campaigning to fight against hate and spread hope

partner quote

“Our case is very simple. Starmer needs to stop exporting emissions to other countries. Instead he must listen to the experts so the UK does its fair share to tackle global heating.”