European Court of Human Rights opens trial on climate inactivity | DW News

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has started to hear the large-scale climate case of six young people and children from Portugal, who are trying to hold the governments of 32 European countries to account for failing to act on climate change.

The young people, supported by the Global Legal Action Network (GLAN), allege the countries — which include Germany, the UK, Russia and Portugal — have not enacted the emission cuts needed to protect their futures. The case focuses on countries whose policies lawyers argue are too weak to meet the 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) Paris Agreement goal. They cite the country ratings of the Climate Action Tracker. The plaintiffs range from age 11 to 24 and come from Lisbon and Leiria in Portugal. The case states climate change poses a rising threat to the six young people's lives and their physical and mental well-being. It invokes human rights arguments — including the right to life, a home and to family — as well as claiming discrimination. "Our generation is living in an age of great danger and uncertainty, so our voice must be heard," Andre Oliveira told DW in 2020 when the case was initially filed with the ECHR. Andre is now 15.

"It's clearly not the case that young people are the only people vulnerable to the effects of climate change," said Gerry Liston, a senior lawyer at GLAN, in 2020. "But because they stand to endure the worst impacts, we're saying the effects of failing to adequately address greenhouse gas emissions amounts to unlawful discrimination on the grounds of age." Andre added that the case wasn't about "finger pointing" but giving all the governments being brought to court "a chance to act better and faster." While there are numerous recent and ongoing climate cases, many also involving young plaintiffs, this is the first of its kind to be brought to Strasbourg. The international court, set up in 1959, deals with alleged violations of civil and political rights set out in the European Convention on Human Rights. The pressing need for significant and wide-scale action among many large emitters warranted going directly to Strasbourg, rather than through domestic courts which is more common, explains Liston. According to GLAN, if successful, the 32 countries would be legally bound to tackle overseas contributions to climate change, including that of multinational companies, as well as ramping up emissions cuts.

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