Greenpeace and ReCommon have decided to appeal to the Court of Cassation to determine whether Italian justice can rule on climate lawsuits such as the one filed last year against Eni.

The two associations said this today.

Eni, accused of contributing to climate change through its fossil fuel business, said in a note yesterday that the trial it is involved in is likely to face longer timeframes following the two environmental organizations' request for a stay of proceedings.

Greenpeace Italy and ReCommon responded in an online press conference that the suspension request is a direct consequence of the appeal to the Supreme Court, whose goal is to speed up the proceedings rather than slow them down.

According to the associations, in the hearing set for September, the Rome court could have upheld the objection of "absolute lack of jurisdiction" raised by Eni, ruling out the possibility that there is a judge in Italy who can decide the issue, as already decided in a similar earlier case.

As a preventive measure, therefore, the Cassazione was asked to "define at the highest judicial level whether it is possible in our country to proceed legally to protect human rights endangered by the climate emergency," reads a note circulated at the end of the conference.

The lawsuit filed by the associations against Eni aims to seek damages from the company and force it to rethink its industrial strategy.

Eni called the lawsuit "totally unfounded" in yesterday's note and added that it had provided "all the elements to support the goodness of its actions and its transformation and decarbonization strategy."

(Matteo Negri, editing Gianluca Semeraro)