One of his lawyers said there had been “very positive” signals from the court so far, ahead of a hearing next month.

Horrified by what they saw as government inaction on climate change, six young Portuguese men took 32 European countries to court.

With one month remaining before the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), they hope their legal battle will inspire others to demand environmental justice around the world.

The lawsuit, filed in September 2020 against the EU’s 27 member states plus Britain, Switzerland, Norway, Russia and Turkey, aims to get legally binding decisions compelling governments to take action on climate change.

This was one of the first cases to reach court, in which citizens stated that inaction violated their human rights. This could force governments to reduce carbon dioxide emissions faster than currently estimated.

“We just want (the government) to honor the agreement and do what it promised,” said André Oliveira, 15, one of the six candidates. The 2015 Paris agreement to reduce emissions to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius and target 1.5°C is a standout.

Current policies will achieve neither of these goals.

How is the fate of the youth of Portugal?

Extreme weather conditions have wreaked havoc in many countries around the world in recent months, with record-high temperatures fueling forest fires, water shortages and an increase in the number of hospitalizations due to the heat.

Supported by the UK-based Global Legal Action Network (GLAN), the Portuguese plaintiffs claim that climate change threatens their rights to life, privacy, mental health and other rights.

Coming soon to high school and loving the outdoors, Oliveira said many of her generation weren’t sure if they wanted to have children because of climate change, and she often couldn’t play outside because of the sweltering heat.

Her 18-year-old sister Sofía says she suffers from environmental anxiety: “When I found out what was happening… and it started to get worse, it really bothered me. »

The forest fires in Portugal opened the eyes of young information seekers

Clinical psychologist Elizabeth Marks, an expert on climate issues, said a global survey found that more than half of young people feel “sad, scared, angry, helpless, powerless and guilty” about climate change and a lack of action to address it.

“They feel like they’ve been repeatedly abandoned by those who were supposed to help and protect them,” Marks said.

Plaintiff Claudia Duarte, 24, from Portugal’s Leiria region, where two wildfires killed more than 100 people in 2017, said the incident was a “revelation” about the consequences of climate change.

Her 11 year old sister suffers from anxiety after the fire. “It’s hard to see children suffering from anxiety over something they can’t control,” said Duarte, a nurse.

How likely are the climate change lawsuits to succeed?

One of the plaintiffs’ attorneys, GLAN’s Gerry Liston, believes their chances of success are high because “all the signals sent so far from the court have been very positive”, including expediting the case, which is seen as an urgent and important matter.

He acknowledged that it would not be easy to “deal with legal teams from more than 30 well-resourced countries”, but said the “climate change boom” happening in Europe and beyond would eventually force governments to act. .

When asked whether the ECtHR could guarantee that all countries would comply with its decision if the plaintiffs won the case, Liston said the decision the legal team hoped would apply nationally.

– The decision we are looking for will provide a roadmap for national courts to compel European governments to act in this way. »

Catarina Mota, 22 years old and also from Leiria, hopes this event can inspire others: “Ce n’est pas seulement l’affaire de nous six… If we can influence and inspire people, our faisons déjà quelque pour a bedere choose a world. »

A hearing is scheduled for September 27.