Italy's top court says climate case against Eni can continue

MILAN (Reuters) -A climate change case against Italian energy group Eni can continue, the country's top appeals court has ruled, in a jurisdiction case that had been raised by environmental groups Greenpeace Italia and ReCommon.

The judgement, which the two organisations published on Tuesday, affirms that Italian courts have jurisdiction to hear climate litigation cases, including those involving emissions from Eni's foreign subsidiaries.

"This historic ruling confirms that climate justice is possible in Italy," Greenpeace Italia and ReCommon said in a joint statement.

The organisations originally filed suit in May 2023, alleging that Eni's decades-long fossil fuel operations contributed significantly to climate change, causing both current and future damage.

They asked the court to ascertain Eni's responsibility for past and future environmental harm and also wanted to force the energy group and its key investors to rethink their climate strategy.

State lender CDP - which owns stakes in groups deemed strategic by the government - and the ministry of finance were named as co-defendants as they own a combined 31.8% of Eni.

In June last year Greenpeace Italia and ReCommon asked the top appeals court for clarification on climate litigation, to be sure that the Rome court has jurisdiction on such cases.

After this ruling, the case will return to the Rome civil court. Eni said it was satisfied with the decision.

"The proceedings can finally resume before the court of Rome, where the unfounded theories put forward by Greenpeace and ReCommon regarding the alleged responsibility of Eni for climate change-related damages will be dismantled," the energy group said.

(Reporting by Francesca Landini; Editing by Alvise Armellini and David Holmes)