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Six Portuguese children who were subject to lethal wildfires and heatwaves have filed a lawsuit against 33 countries.
The crowdfunded legal action filed by the Portuguese children and young adults with the European court of human rights claims the government’s inactivity to prevent climate change is endangering their future, according to The Guardian.
Through their crowdfunded legal action, the children are imploring the U.K. and several E.U. governments, including Norway, Russia, Turkey, Switzerland and Ukraine, to restrict greenhouse gas emissions and control climate change’s negative effects.
The Portuguese claimants are as young as 8, with the oldest being 21, according to a Reuters report. Their lawsuit claims if the governments of the 33 countries do not take action, young generations’ well-being and lives will be threatened.
The crowdfunded legal action taken by the Portuguese children is a groundbreaking one.
With their lawsuit, they are suing each of the 33 governments for emissions within its borders, as well as for the extraction and outsourcing of fossil fuels.
The Portuguese children filed their lawsuit after experiencing natural disasters they believe are due to climate change.
The lawsuit was launched in 2017 after Portugal endured disastrous forest fires caused 120 deaths. Portugal just experienced the hottest recorded July in 90 years.
The Portuguese children and young adults filing the lawsuit are from the places affected by the high temperatures and forest fires.
Leiria was one of the cities most devastated by the area’s fires; four of the lawsuit’s claimants live there.
The other two plaintiffs live in Lisbon, which suffered through heat waves recording 44 degrees in 2018, according to One Green Planet.
Some scientists believe climate change will increase deaths 30-fold by between 2071 and 2100, The Guardian reported. Scientists also predict there will be an increased risk of forest fires if climate change worsens.
Catarina Mota, 20, one of the four Leiria plaintiffs, wants governments to take scientific warnings seriously because climate change has already affected younger generations both physically and psychologically.
“I live with the feeling that every year my home becomes a more hostile place and as I get older, I will be exposed to violent heatwaves that will last for several weeks, and it scares me a lot,” Mota said at an online press conference, Reuters reported.
Fifteen-year-old plaintiff Sofia Oliveira said youths her age are aware of dangers in the foreseeable future.
“We have seen unbearable heat waves that cause water shortages and damage food production, and violent wildfires that give us anxiety and make us afraid to travel through our country’s forests,” Oliveira said, according to Reuters. “… If we already see these extremes in 2020 what will the future be like?”
Oliveira added that the E.U. needs to promise to cut emissions by at least 65% by 2030 by adopting renewable energies and clean technologies instead of fossil fuels.
The Portuguese children are being represented by British barristers who are environmental experts, including Marc Willers QC. They are also supported by NGO Global Legal Action Network, which contributed £27,000 to the crowdfunded legal action.
Other lawsuits have been filed for climate change-related issues. Over 1,300 lawsuits have been filed around the world since 1990.
Gerry Liston of NGO Global Legal Action told The Guardian this lawsuit is “unique” in that it includes the largest number countries ever sued in a single climate-change case. If this lawsuit is successful, Liston said, it could have a tremendous effect on Europe.
What do you think will be the outcome of the Portuguese children’s climate change lawsuit? Share your thoughts in the comments.
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