Climate justice:six young Portuguese sue European states

It is one of the largest - if not the largest - legal action on the climate in the world, and it was officially undertaken on September 27 in a courtroom, before the European Court of Human Rights, by six Portuguese boys among the 11 and 24 years old.These, acting as the voice of the European ecological movements, 32 countries reported – all those from the EU plus Norway, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Russia and Turkey –, with the accusation of not doing enough to reduce harmful emissions, as established by the Paris Agreement.A failure to comply which, according to the young people, is putting the future of the younger generations in serious danger.The same ones that, according to what is established by resolution approved in July last year by the UN General Assembly, have the universal right to live in a healthy environment, clean and sustainable, a condition which - in the words of the report itself - is threatened first and foremost "by climate change and environmental degradation".

However, not only are countries adopting insufficient and inadequate policies but, according to the accusation, the consequences of such choices - or non-choices - are already having a significant impact on children's lives.For example, due to the high temperatures recorded in Portugal in recent months, many of them have been forced, among other things, to stay indoors longer.Furthermore, climate change would also have repercussions on their quality of sleep, their ability to concentrate and their mental well-being, disturbed by anxiety, and physical well-being, complicated by allergies and respiratory diseases.Conditions aggravated above all by violent fires in recent years, who have been able to devour – in Portugal and the rest of Europe – hectares and hectares of land.It was precisely after the 2017 flames that broke out in the district of Leira, in the central-western area of ​​the country, killing 66 people, that the boys made the decision to turn to justice, giving rise to a trial that could prove, from the from a climatic point of view, one of the most important ever.In fact, if the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg were to agree with the complainants, the governments involved - as well as their courts - could have to submit to legally binding decisions.

Meanwhile, the administrations, questioned separately, reject the accusation, declaring the evidence is insufficient in support of the thesis:In their opinion, there is no valid evidence to demonstrate that the damage reported by the children is a direct consequence of climate change or the Portuguese fires - and that, even if this were not the case, the ECHR should not be the one to deal with it.Dunja Mijatovic, Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, heard by the BBC, said that the case raised is «in reality an alarm for the Member States, for international organizations, for all of us who have a particular opportunity to show we care, and that it's not just words on paper."An event that especially the younger ones would need.

According to one study published in 2021 in the scientific journal The Lancet, conducted on 10 thousand people aged between 16 and 25, coming from ten different countries, it is above all thedissatisfaction with Governments' non-compliance in environmental terms to create concern in younger individuals.So much so that they are often the ones who bring climate lawsuits all over the world and, sometimes, win them.In the State of Montana (USA), for example, a court he proved right to the 16 kids between 5 and 22 who they had reported the State for having supported and supported the extraction and use of fossil fuels.To find out how the story of the Portuguese boys will end, we will have to wait between nine and eighteen months.

[by Gloria Ferrari]