In a historic case, 6 young activists confront 32 European countries for climate action

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STRASBOURG, France (AP) — Six young Portuguese people will argue Wednesday before the European Court of Human Rights that European governments are not doing enough to protect people from the harmful effects of climate change, in a major new initiative by activists to bring governments to court and force climate action.

Lawyers representing the group of young adults and minors will allege that the 32 European governments they are suing have failed to adequately address climate change and therefore violated some of their fundamental rights.

“This really is a case of David versus Goliath,” said Gearóid Ó Cuinn, director of the nonprofit Global Legal Action Network, which has raised funds to support the group.

“It is unprecedented in its scale and consequences,” he said. “It also makes legal history. Never before have so many countries had to defend themselves before a court, anywhere in the world.”

Although climate cases have been successfully brought in national and regional courts — a group of young environmentalists recently won a similar case in Montana — the activists’ legal team said that because the national jurisdiction did not go far enough to protect their rights, The group decided to take the matter to the Strasbourg-based court.

They allege that their rights to life, privacy and family life, as well as to live free of discrimination, are being violated, and they trust that a favorable ruling will force the 27 members of the European Union, as well as the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Norway, Russia and Turkey, to accelerate their climate efforts such as building renewable energy infrastructure and reducing their greenhouse gas emissions.

The court’s decisions are legally binding on member countries, and failure to comply exposes authorities to large fines decided by the court.

“This judgment would be like a binding treaty imposed by the court on the defendants, requiring them to rapidly accelerate their climate relief efforts,” explained attorney Gerry Liston. “In legal terms, it would be decisive.”

But the plaintiffs, who are between 11 and 24 years old and are not asking for financial compensation, will have to convince judges that they have been affected enough to be considered victims. The group will also have to prove in court that governments have a legal duty to ensure that global warming remains at 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) since the pre-industrial era, in line with the agreement’s goals. Paris climate change 2015.

Science is on the side of the activists.

The world is a long way from its goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, according to scientists, with forecasts that at the current rate of warming and taking into account emissions reduction plans, the average global temperature will rise between 2 and 4 degrees Celsius (2.6 to 7.2 degrees Fahrenheit) by 2100.

As the world warms, climate scientists predict more frequent and extreme weather events, such as flooding and heavier rainfall, prolonged droughts and heat waves, or increasingly intense storms.

At a news conference before the hearing, activists said climate change affects their daily lives and studies, and harms their physical and psychological health.

The young people went to court after a series of deadly forest fires in central Portugal, where four of them live, in 2017.

“One day it is 43 degrees (109 F) and the next day it is hail, and that is dangerous because we cannot predict what is going to happen,” explained André Oliveira, 15 years old. The heat wave that hit Portugal in May affected his studies, he added.

“I had exams and I tried to study for them, but it’s hard to concentrate,” André said. “And it’s not just the physical effects. The climate crisis affects our mental health because we are worried about our future. How could we not be scared?”

André’s sister Sofia said her brother has asthma and couldn’t go outside without feeling suffocated when temperatures reached 30 C (86 F) in winter this year, an unusually high number.

“Governments around the world have the power to stop it, and European governments choose not to stop it,” said one of the plaintiffs, Catarina dos Santos Mota, 23. “Since we began our lawsuit, we have seen the impact of the climate crisis get worse and worse. In 2023, July was the hottest month ever recorded. “It’s terrifying to think that this is just the beginning.”

This is the first climate case presented before that court. Since then, two other lawsuits have been filed, one by an older women’s association against Switzerland, and another by a French parliamentarian against France.

The decision is expected to take several months. It is not yet clear whether the court will present its decision on all three climate cases at once.

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