More than 1.8 million people have so far signed an online petition launched by environmental groups last week calling for the French state to face court for not doing enough to fight climate change.
Greenpeace, Oxfam and two French environmental groups launched the petition last week and received an outpouring of support in just a few days, including from French film stars Marion Cotillard and Juliette Binoche.
“The more we are, the harder it will be for the government to ignore us," Greenpeace France director Jean-François Julliard told FRANCE 24.
"What we want, in the end, is that a court ruling requires France to do more in its fight against climate change,” he said, ideally with “a binding decision”.
A similar effort in the Netherlands was eventually successful, with an appeals court ruling in October that the Dutch government must do more to reduce emissions. Similar court cases are being eyed in several other countries, the Guardian has reported, including in the UK, Norway, New Zealand and Uganda.
The Netherlands case took two years in all, "but we hope it will be faster in France”, Julliard said.
(FRANCE 24 with AP)
