DW/ Irini Anastasopoulou

It’s a big day today for Andre and his sister Sofia Oliveira, 15 and 18 respectively. A day they had been waiting for for many years.

Together with 4 other children of the same age from Portugal, they appear before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

For an unprecedented case.

“This is my first time in court” says Andre, “and I will be before all these people in such a great affair. I’m a little nervous, but also happy. Why this case needs to be closed and we’re finally going to get it.” But what case is it?

“To take action”

Six children and young people, all from Portugal, filed an appeal 3 years ago at the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) against 32 European countries, 27 of the EU and another five, Norway, Turkey, Russia, Switzerland and Britain.

The first hearing started today. The young applicants are calling on them to take more radical measures to protect the environment. An unprecedented trial, a “pioneering initiative”, as described by Amnesty International.

Because, apart from the age of the plaintiffs, the number of defendants, 32 countries, is completely unusual. They will be represented by 80 lawyers, who are present in the courtroom today. The teenage plaintiffs will be represented by just six lawyers. “David against Goliath”, as characteristically said by the head of an NGO.

“What I expect from governments is to take action on climate, on something that is real” says Sofia, “not for something that is secondary and tertiary. It is a primary problem because it violates our rights».

The appeal was prompted by the devastating forest fires in Portugal in 2017, where more than 100 people lost their lives and vast areas of forest were destroyed as a result of climate change. Any prediction of the appeal’s chances of success would be risky, given that environmental law has not particularly concerned the judges and the European Convention on Human Rights does not provide for the right to a clean environment.

Next year the decisions

The appeal is based more on the argument that environmental pollution endangers other human rights, such as the right to life. For Vasco Pereira da Silva, a professor at the University of Lisbon specializing in European Law and the environment, the fact that the case reached the level of the European Court of Human Rights is an indication of the growing attention to climate-related cases.

“There are convictions from the Netherlands which were among the first,” he points out. “Then Brazil, which never got to the stage of trial under former President Bolsonaro for non-compliance with international climate change mandates. There is a remarkable decision of the German Constitutional Court in 2021, which condemns the German state for not taking the necessary measures to deal with climate change issues, because it did not act now, but also because it did not foresee measures until 2031. So they have been considered legal issues in relation to the future».

The challenge is huge. If the plaintiffs are successful, then the governments of the 32 countries will have to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and comply with stricter climate targets. For now, today, the justices will hear arguments from both sides. Decisions are expected next year.