The six plaintiffs were present in Strasbourg on Wednesday to defend their case before the European Court of Human Rights, following the 2017 fires in Portugal that killed more than 100 people.
There are six of them, Ages 11 to 24, who came to Strasbourg on Wednesday to defend their case before the European Court of Human Rights. These four girls and two boys traveled from Portugal to follow up 32 European countries : The 27 European Union members plus Norway, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Russia and Turkey.
These young plaintiffs Accusing these governments Not to address the climate crisis.
The project of this procedure was born in 2017 after Fires in Portugal Which claimed the lives of more than a hundred people, the case was finally brought to justice two years ago. The plaintiffs say they continue to suffer the consequences of climate inaction on a daily basis and fear for their future.
“The fires are very close to where I live. The fires have already put my life in danger, and I lost the lives of my sisters during my school days due to a simple respiratory disease that I suffer from.“, explains 20-year-old Martim Duarte Agostino.
These young Portuguese can count on the support of environmental NGOs.
“We are talking about the right to privacy and family life. Because they are young, their future is at stake and they suffer from the harmful effects of the climate for a much longer period. That is why we support the fact that they are being discriminated against“, confirms Gearoid O Quinn, Director of the Global Legal Action Network.
“The court also asked us to address issues of inhuman and degrading treatment due to the mental anguish and trauma caused to them by the climate crisis“, he adds.
The plaintiffs’ lawyers expect a positive outcome that would amount to a legally binding regional treaty requiring the 32 defendant countries to accelerate their climate action.
Portuguese youth can count on the support of the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights.
“I think it’s time to turn words into action. Because we know that there are many decisions, many agreements, beautiful words on paper, but no action.“, insists Dunja Mijatović.
For their part, governments believe that this is not the case There is no supporting evidence -Claims that contain speculation about the future. They add that the plaintiffs are no more at risk than the rest of the Portuguese population, and that the authorities are already implementing mitigation obligations under the Paris Agreement.
