Case T-579/22: Judgment of the General Court of 10 September 2025 – ClientEarth v Commission (Environment – Aarhus Convention – Rejection of a request for internal review – Article 10 of Regulation (EC) No 1367/2006 – Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/2139 – Bioenergy activities – Forest biomass – Manufacture of organic base chemicals – Manufacture of plastics in primary form – Taxonomy – Requirements for technical screening criteria – Article 19 of Regulation (EU) 2020/852 – Substantial contribution to climate change mitigation – Article 10 of Regulation 2020/852 – Transitional activities – Quantitative threshold – Conclusive scientific evidence – Life cycle – Precautionary principle – Principle of do no significant harm to environmental objectives – Article 17 of Regulation 2020/852 – Circular economy – Water and marine resources – Pollution)
Date: 2025-09-10
Institutions: General Court
Subjects: EU environmental policy, UN convention, biomass, climate change policy, economic activity, economic instrument for the environment, organic chemical, plastics, powers of the institutions (EU), technical specification








C_202505688EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2025/5688


3.11.2025






Judgment of the General Court of 10 September 2025 – ClientEarth v Commission


(Case T-579/22)
                (1)

(Environment - Aarhus Convention - Rejection of a request for internal review - Article 10 of Regulation (EC) No 1367/2006 - Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/2139 - Bioenergy activities - Forest biomass - Manufacture of organic base chemicals - Manufacture of plastics in primary form - Taxonomy - Requirements for technical screening criteria - Article 19 of Regulation (EU) 2020/852 - Substantial contribution to climate change mitigation - Article 10 of Regulation 2020/852 - Transitional activities - Quantitative threshold - Conclusive scientific evidence - Life cycle - Precautionary principle - Principle of ‘do no significant harm’ to environmental objectives - Article 17 of Regulation 2020/852 - Circular economy - Water and marine resources - Pollution)
(C/2025/5688)
Language of the case: English

Parties


Applicant: ClientEarth AISBL (Ixelles, Belgium) (represented by: T. Johnston, Barrister)

Defendant: European Commission (represented by: G. von Rintelen, C. Auvret, G. Gattinara, R. Lindenthal and B. De Meester, acting as Agents)

Intervener in support of the defendant: French Republic (represented by: T. Stéhelin and B. Fodda, acting as Agents)

Re:

By its action under Article 263 TFEU, the applicant seeks the annulment of Decision Ares(2022) 4942150 of 6 July 2022, by which the European Commission rejected the request for internal review of its Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/2139 of 4 June 2021 supplementing Regulation (EU) 2020/852 of the European Parliament and of the Council by establishing the technical screening criteria for determining the conditions under which an economic activity qualifies as contributing substantially to climate change mitigation or climate change adaptation and for determining whether that economic activity causes no significant harm to any of the other environmental objectives (OJ 2021 L 442, p. 1), as regards certain aspects relating to economic activities related to bioenergy, the manufacture of organic base chemicals and the manufacture of plastics in primary form.

Operative part of the judgment

The Court:






1.


Dismisses the action;










2.


Orders ClientEarth AISBL to bear its own costs and to pay those incurred by the European Commission;










3.


Orders the French Republic to bear its own costs.






(1)  
            OJ C 45, 6.2.2023.


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2025/5688/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)