A lawyer for young people from Portugal who will argue climate change at the European Court of Human Rights said on Wednesday that activists have evidence that European countries are failing.
“We have presented evidence that shows states have the right to do much more to regulate (carbon) emissions and choose not to do so,” attorney Jerry Liston told The Associated Press this Wednesday at the start of the hearing. at the Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in Strasbourg, France.
This Wednesday, six young people from Portugal are defending and presenting arguments to demonstrate that governments across Europe are not doing enough to protect people from the damage caused by climate change.
The case is before the European Court of Human Rights in the latest and biggest case in which activists are taking governments to court to force them to act on climate change.
Lawyers representing youth and children say the 32 European governments they are planning to sue have failed to adequately address global warming by violating fundamental rights.
According to Jerry Liston, this process may ultimately lead to policy action about the future.
“This decision will act as a binding contract imposed by the court on the defendants, obliging them to rapidly accelerate efforts to mitigate climate change,” Liston said in Strasbourg.
“From a legal point of view, this will be a paradigm shift,” the Strasbourg-based lawyer said, adding that a ruling in favor of the group could also help “future climate cases at the national level” by providing guidance to relevant national courts.
Six young people aged 11 to 24 (Andre, Catarina, Claudia, Mariana, Martim and Sofia) claim that 32 countries, including Portugal, are not taking the necessary measures to ensure global warming does not exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius . compared to pre-industrial times, which is one of the goals of the 2015 Paris climate agreement.
Young people point out that climate change is causing very strong storms in winter, and rising temperatures are causing more fires in summer.
They say they suffer from anxiety caused by natural disasters and the prospect of such a future, and say countries are not respecting the “right to life” and “right to respect for private and family life” clauses of the Human Rights Convention. People.
Youth protection warns European Court of cost of ‘state failure’
The defense of six young Portuguese men warned judges this Wednesday of the price to be paid for the “failure of states” to respond to the climate crisis.
At the hearing, held in Strasbourg, lawyer Alison McDonald spoke on behalf of Andre, Katarina, Claudia, Mariana, Martim and Sofia to highlight the risks to the young people’s future.
“It is because of their determination and hard work that this case is before you today. Today’s case concerns young people. It’s about the price they pay for states’ failure to deal with the climate emergency. It is about the harm they pay for the failure of states to cope with the climate emergency. they will suffer for the rest of their lives if states do not take their responsibility,” he said.
The lawyer also stressed to the plenary session of 17 judges “the biggest crisis that Europe and the world” has ever faced, believing that it “cannot depend on the discretion of the state whether to act or not to avoid catastrophic climate destruction.”
Lawyer Sudhanshu Swarup, representing the United Kingdom, spoke on behalf of the affected states, pointing out the perceived illegitimacy of putting forward the ECtHR’s position on this issue, despite recognizing the impact of climate change on society. .
“The respondent States are fully aware of the seriousness of the fight against climate change, but the fundamental principles of the traditional human rights system must be applied and respected, regardless of the nature of the issue before the court. This petition requires the Court to depart from these principles and exceed its mandate,” the lawyer said.
Portugal’s Ricardo Matos questioned the “victim status” of young people, saying they had not made a direct link between states’ emissions and the damage caused by the country’s wildfires, and insisted that since climate change affects everyone, no one should have the status of a victim.
Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatović acknowledged that climate change is having a “devastating impact” on people, “especially children and young people,” with consequences for their physical and mental health and your rights.
“It is very important to take a children’s rights approach to the issue of climate change and how it affects their rights,” he stressed.
The ECHR meeting was interrupted for lunch and will continue this afternoon.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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