The biggest climate lawsuit in history

Six children and young people want to force the governments of Germany and 31 other countries in Europe to do much more to protect the environment in the future. The climate lawsuit filed by the young Portuguese three years ago will be heard this Wednesday in Strasbourg before the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). Amnesty International spoke of a “groundbreaking” initiative by young people between the ages of eleven and 24.

In addition to the age of the plaintiffs, the size of the trial and the number of countries accused are unusual. A spokeswoman for the Portuguese said that over 80 lawyers would be present in the courtroom on behalf of the reprimanded governments. The plaintiffs would be represented by just six lawyers. “This is really a case of David versus Goliath,” said a few days before the hearing Gearóid Ó Cuinn, director of the non-governmental organization Global Legal Action Network (GLAN), which is supporting and advising the Portuguese on the initiative. “There are no precedents, either in terms of scale or consequences.”

“Residence will soon become an unbearable oven”

If the plaintiffs are right, the ECHR could call on the governments of the EU member states and the co-defendant states Norway, Russia, Turkey, Switzerland and Great Britain to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and to adopt and adhere to stricter climate targets. GLAN lawyer Gerry Liston speaks of a possible “game changer”. Originally, 33 countries were sued. The ECHR continues to mention this number. But the young people decided to leave Ukraine out because of the Russian war of aggression.

A verdict is not expected until next year. One of the plaintiffs, Martim Duarte Agostinho, says there is no time to waste. “Without urgent measures to reduce emissions, my place of residence will soon become an unbearable oven,” the 20-year-old from Leiria in central Portugal told the hearing. At the start of the initiative in 2020, Martim’s sister Mariana said as an eight-year-old that the adults’ inaction made her angry and sad at the same time. “I’m very afraid of having to live on a sick planet.”

Several bad news

Since Mariana’s statements there have been few improvements, but several bad news. According to data from the EU climate change service Copernicus, July 2023 was the hottest month recorded so far. Martim said: “Our message to the judges will be simple: please ensure that governments do whatever is necessary so that we have a livable future.”

Amnesty International’s head of strategic litigation, Mandi Mudarikwa, said the young plaintiffs, like so many others around the world, were “already feeling the immediate health impacts of climate change. Increasing heat extremes are limiting their options , being outdoors, doing sports, sleeping and concentrating properly.

The reason for the lawsuit filed by Mariana and Martin, their sister Claudia (24) as well as Catarina Mota (23) and the siblings Sofia (18) and André Oliveira (15) were the devastating fires of 2017 in their home country, in which more than 100 people died and huge areas of forest were destroyed. “That’s when the penny dropped for me (…) I realized how urgently we need to act to stop climate change,” Claudia told the dpa some time ago.

Opportunities difficult to predict

It is difficult to predict what the chances are for the plaintiffs, as environmental law issues have not yet played a major role before the ECHR. In principle, the European Convention on Human Rights does not grant a right to a clean environment. So far, lawsuits have primarily been based on the fact that environmental pollution endangers other human rights, such as the right to life. For example, it was often about people being affected by noise or air pollution. However, the effects of climate change in general have hardly been addressed so far.

This could change now. Because the Portuguese are not the only ones who are demanding more climate protection in court. This year, the case of the so-called Climate Seniors, an association of Swiss pensioners supported by Greenpeace, will also be heard at the ECHR. A French mayor is also currently suing for compliance with the Paris climate goals.

Lawsuits for climate protection are trendy. According to the Grantham Institute at the London School of Economics, over 2,000 have been collected worldwide so far, a quarter of them between 2020 and 2022. There could soon be several exciting developments: The island nation of Vanuatu in the South Pacific is involving the International Criminal Court. Lawsuits have also been filed in the USA, Brazil and Sweden due to a lack of climate protection.

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