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The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) rejected a “coordinated effort” by the 33 countries prosecuted by six young Portuguese people for their ineffectiveness in the fight against climate change, to reverse their decision to consider the case as a priority. According to the non-profit association Global legal action network (GLAN), who is leading the process, the defendants alleged that “the young people are not facing any imminent danger”, so it made no sense to consider the case as urgent. The court rejected this position, but extended the deadline for states to present their defense. Instead of February, you can do it now until May 27.
The reaction of the 33 countries, considered the main European emitters of greenhouse gases (GHG), came after receiving the “communication” of acceptance of the case by the ECHR in November of last year. According to GLAN, the court also denied the defendants’ request to postpone “the analysis of their climate policies.” “The governments had asked permission to argue that the case is inadmissible and, therefore, that the challenge to their climate policies should not be heard,” writes the association dedicated to cases related to human rights, in a statement to which it had PUBLIC access.
As a result of this, they add, countries will now have to “defend the compatibility of their policies” with the central objective of the Paris Agreement, to keep the temperature rise below 1.5 degrees Celsius, starting from pre-industrial values. “It is another great step towards obtaining a judicial decision that forces European governments to act with the necessary urgency to guarantee the future of the young petitioners and their generation. Given that global warming exceeds the 1.5 degrees Celsius predicted in the Paris Agreement, there can be no delay in subjecting the policies of European countries to scrutiny, ”says Gerry Liston of GLAN, quoted in the statement. The lawyers defending the case of Portuguese youth at THDE belong to the Garden court rooms, a British bar association focused on actions related to human rights.
The action of the six young Portuguese, four from the Leiria region and two brothers from Almada, aged between 8 and 21, was handed over to the ECHR in September. In addition to all the countries that make up the European Union, the complaint is also directed at the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Norway, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine.
Using studies and projections that point to the degradation of climatic conditions in Portugal – with increasing temperatures, longer heat waves, rising sea water levels or increasing droughts, with the appearance of heavy rains capable of causing severe floods – and remembering that some of these changes have already been felt in the country in recent years, young people and their representatives assume that the European Convention on Human Rights obliges States to take concrete actions to reduce emissions of That by not do everything in their power to achieve it, they are calling to question precisely those rights. What the young people and their lawyers want is for the court to make a decision that will force Portugal and the rest of the processed countries to act urgently to stop the climate crisis.
The next step will be for the states to present their defense and the young Portuguese lawyers will respond to each of the arguments presented. Despite the support already shown for the process by various international environmental organizations, a fundraising to help support the costs of the operation. The goal of reaching 65 thousand pounds (more than 75,500 euros) collected at the end of this week was, this Thursday, still a little far from being reached, with the value of around 46 thousand pounds (53,500 euros).
Updated news with correction of the deadline for delivery of the defense of the states, which is May 27 and not March 27.
