NEWS and COMMENT: six Portuguese youngsters have in effect sued the governments of 32 countries for ruining their futures because they argue that the governments of those countries are making bad decisions in respect of global warming and that the future for them, because of those decisions, is bleak. They’ve taken their case to the European Court of Human Rights.
They are not seeking compensation but they are seeking, as I understand it, a declaration from that court that the governments of these countries are ignoring their futures and the futures of all the children of the world. It is the children of the world who will pay the price of climate change.
The case will be heard on Wednesday. The youngest claimant is aged 11. Instead of being at school she will be sitting before 17 judges in Strasbourg! She said that she’s scared but happy to be there because she wants to accomplish her goal of forcing or at least encouraging governments to change course.
As mentioned all the youngsters are from Portugal and that may be because Portugal has suffered some horrendous temperatures recently. For example, Sophia, 18, said: “Some days we can’t go outside to be safe because outside you feel really tired, you can’t breathe and your eyes start burning.”
Her brother said: “Our fathers and grandfathers could enjoy the world in a way we can’t now”.
Remarkably, the Strasbourg judges decided to take the unprecedented step of saying that they will consider the arguments of the youngsters and whether decisions made by governments violate the rights of the children to be free from torture, and inhumane or degrading treatment.
If the youngsters win, and they are aged between 11 and 24, it would be the first time that the European Court of Human Rights found in favour of an application regarding pollution affecting human rights.
And if they do find in favour of the children, it may make governments legally obliged to commit to stronger action in curbing global warming.
And this brings to mind, very sharply, the recent decisions of the UK Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, in rolling back from his declared targets regarding climate change and achieving net carbon neutral objectives. He has rowed back in terms of allowing the continuation of the use of petrol and diesel cars beyond the earlier set dates.
The countries at the heart of the legal action are EU member states plus the UK, Norway, Russia, Switzerland and Turkey. The British government is committed to cutting carbon emissions by 68% by 2030 compared with 1990 levels. The British government’s has a target of reaching net zero 2050.
The argument the youngsters make is that now is the time to push forward and take more vigorous and bolder steps in curbing climate change rather than rowing back. Governments need to demonstrate ambition in tackling the crisis.
Marianna from Western Portugal said that “governments need to be more careful of what they do so that I can have a clean future”. The court fast-tracked the application because of its importance.
My distinct belief and thought is that the court should agree the arguments of these youngsters and grant them their application. There is no doubt that the politicians need to be more forceful in their decision-making to curb climate change. And as these youngsters state this is about them and their future. The old people like myself don’t really care about global warming. We are too old to really care about it. This is about youngsters and their future. It’s about making bold decisions which are going to be expensive but which are necessary to ensure that today’s youngsters have a genuine future. Climate change is making hundreds of millions of children and young people anxious about the future. I think they will win this because the court is free to make a decision as they see fit free of precedent as this is a novel case.
