Countries counter young people’s arguments in climate action – 09/28/2023 – Environment

In a hearing considered historic by environmental activists, the European Court of Human Rights, one of the highest legal bodies in the region, began to judge the complaint of six young Portuguese people, aged 11 to 24, against the governments of more than 30 countries in the world. continent —all members of the European Union, plus Russia, Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Turkey and Ukraine.

The group, which reports that its health and future are affected by the harmful effects of global warming, accuses nations of not acting decisively to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and contain the rise in temperatures.

Last Wednesday (27), young people and their legal representatives, as well as the governments’ legal team, presented a summary of their arguments to the Grand Chamber of the court — which only deals with processes that raise major questions about the interpretation of the convention of human rights. It was the first time that so many nations had to defend themselves simultaneously before a court.

Thirty-one countries chose to present their arguments in a joint position, led by British lawyer Sudhanshu Swaroop.

Essentially, countries have focused their efforts on convincing judges of what they consider to be the court’s lack of jurisdiction over the issue, in addition to reinforcing that there was no exhaustion of national judicial remedies before appealing to the higher court.

The countries also claim that the young people were unable to document the health problems and constraints to normal life that they claimed to have in the process.

The governments also maintain that it is impossible to directly attribute the responsibility of each nation for global warming and the effects described in the Portuguese complaint.

Speaking on behalf of the group of countries, Swaroop stated that governments “completely understand the seriousness of global warming”, but refuted the accusations made by young people.

The British lawyer stated that the arguments in the case could trigger the number of similar actions in several instances. “It would open the door to an influx of climate claims under the convention [Europeia de Direitos Humanos]before national courts and, ultimately, before this court itself.”

Swaroop also highlighted that the changes requested by young people “seek to impose comprehensive obligations, with profound social and economic repercussions”.

In addition to reducing greenhouse gas emissions within European borders, the group also seeks to restrict pollution linked to what happens outside the continent. This would include, among other things, the imposition of import limits on goods produced in carbon-intensive contexts.

As in the process, the young people’s representatives highlighted at the hearing the abundant scientific documentation that presents the damage caused by global warming.

“None of this is politics. It’s science,” said lawyer Alison Macdonald, who cited reports from the IPCC (UN panel on climate change) and the statements made by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Portuguese António Guterres.

The governments of the countries also sent written responses to the judges, where the general tone was to minimize what is alleged by the authors of the action.

Environmentalists accused some of the nations of climate denialism due to the responses presented. One of the most criticized positions was that of Greece, which stated that “the effects of climate change, as recorded so far, do not appear to directly affect human life or health”.

In recent years, Greek territories have been severely affected by large forest fires, which, according to experts, are gaining even more strength with the global increase in temperature.

The problem of fires, but in Portugal, was precisely the main motivation of the Portuguese to start the process.

Four of the young people who filed the complaint are from the Leiria region, in the center of the country, one of the territories most affected by the flames in the country. In 2017, amid heat waves and a dry season, fires in central Portugal caused the deaths of more than a hundred people, in addition to various losses to the population.

In the process, the young people claim that their right to life is threatened by the impacts of climate events worsened by global warming.

The action was made possible through crowdfunding on the internet, which has already raised more than 140.4 thousand pounds (around R$865 thousand) and continues to accept donations.

The group is assisted by the British NGO Glan (Global Legal Action Network). On the country side, dozens of professionals, including some of the most expensive experts in environmental law and human rights, represented the interests of governments.

In an interview with Sheet Last week, lawyer Gearóid Ó Cuinn, director of Glan, called the trial “a battle of David against Goliath”, alluding to the biblical story that pits a giant against a human being.

The expectation is that the final result of the trial will be known between 9 and 18 months.

The action is considered strategic by environmentalists because the European Court of Human Rights has the power to make binding determinations, forcing countries to take concrete action to reduce emissions.

Given the lack of global progress in reducing emissions, legal action has been increasingly sought by environmental activists.

Led by Brazilian researcher Joana Setzer in partnership with Catherine Higham, a study by the London School of Economics identified 2,002 cases of climate litigation from 1986 to the beginning of 2022.

Recent years have seen significant growth in these representations. The number of lawsuits has doubled since 2015, and approximately 20% of total lawsuits were filed from 2020 to 2022.