Six young Portuguese people have filed a lawsuit against 32 governments, including all EU member states, the UK, Norway, Russia, Switzerland and Turkey, for what they claim is insufficient action over climate change.
The six – none of whom is seeking financial compensation – say the governments in question have failed to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions enough to meet the Paris Agreement target of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees C, the BBC reports.
The case is the first of its kind to be filed at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg. The BBC notes that, if it is successful, it could have legally binding consequences for the governments involved. The first hearing in the case was held yesterday.
Aged from 11 to 24, the six claimants argue that the forest fires that have occurred in Portugal each year since 2017 are a direct result of global warming.
They claim that their fundamental human rights – including the right to life, privacy, family life and to be free from discrimination – are being violated due to governments’ reluctance to fight climate change.
Lawyers representing the six young claimants are expected to argue in court that the 32 governments’ current policies are putting the world on course for 3 degrees C of global warming by the end of the century.
Gearóid Ó Cuinn, director of Global Legal Action Network (GLAN) that is supporting the applicants, is quoted by the BBC as saying: ‘It’s catastrophic heating. Without urgent action by the governments, the youth applicants involved in this case face unbearable heat extremes that’ll harm their health and their wellbeing. We know that the governments have it within their power to do much more to stop this, but they are choosing not to act.’
However, in separate and joint responses to the case, the governments argue that the claimants have not sufficiently established that they have suffered as a direct consequence of climate change or the Portuguese wildfires.
They claim there is no evidence to show climate change poses an immediate risk to human life or health, and also argue that climate policy is beyond the scope of the European Court of Human Rights’ jurisdiction.
[Image: Michael Held http://unsplash.com/photos/Of-NXuECJbEImageGallery, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=58859645]