Six Young People Taking 32 Nations to Court Over Climate Inaction

What's the story?

• In the world's largest climate legal action to date, six young people will appear at the European Court of Human Rights to try to force 32 nations to escalate their emissions and take meaningful action on climate change.
• The six claimants are all from Portugal and between the ages of 11 and 24. They were inspired to act due to their experiences with catastrophic wildfires that hit the Leiria region in 2017.
• The claimants began their action six years ago, and have raised over $100,000 in worldwide donations. 
• The countries named in the action are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.

What do the claimants want?

• They will argue in the grand chamber of Strasbourg's court that the 32 nations' policies on climate change amount to a breach of human rights obligations. They are seeking a ruling that compels the countries to rapidly reduce their emissions.
• The lawyers will present evidence that the 32 nations' current policies will guarantee that the world will warm by 3 degrees Celsius in the lifetime of the claimants.
• The case argues that the claimants' rights to life, to be free from inhumane or degrading treatment, to privacy and family life, and to be free from discrimination are not being upheld by the European nations.

The European response

• The Greek government defended itself, saying:

"The effects of climate change as recorded so far do not seem to directly affect human life or human health."

• The Irish government rejected the claimants' argument, denying that their lives were in imminent or immediate danger.
• The Portuguese government said the claim consisted of "future fears, constituting only mere assumptions or general probabilities."

An unprecedented case

• Gearóid Ó Cuinn from the Global Legal Action Network, a group supporting the claimants, said:

"This case is unprecedented in its scale and its consequence. Never before have so many countries had to defend themselves in front of any court anywhere in the world."

• One of the claimants, André dos Santos Oliveira, 15, said:

"These European governments are failing to protect us. We are living in the face of climate impacts across Europe. In Portugal this summer we experienced heatwaves which are getting worse and worse. Our ability to do anything, to live our lives, is becoming restricted. The climate crisis is affecting our physical health and our mental health. How could you not be scared?"

• Gerry Liston, a senior lawyer at GLAN, said:

"These young people face a future of unbearable heat. The latest IPCC report describes these conditions as unlivable. Yet these governments are trivializing their claims. But our case is really very simple—the harm that climate change is causing, and will continue to cause, to the mental and physical health of these young people and to their wellbeing, is a clear violation of their human rights."

Do you support the lawsuit?

-Emma Kansiz 

(Photo Credit: Arc Digital/Ted Eytan)