Six young Portuguese people denounce 32 European governments for climate inaction

Six young Portuguese people have denounced 32 countries before the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) for failing to protect them against climate change.

The historic trial is the first time that so many countries in the world will have to defend themselves in court. The 27 Member States of the European Union, the United Kingdom, Turkey, Russia and Norway are among the defendants. Portuguese youth, aged between 11 and 24, have said that government inaction on climate change violates their human rights and discriminates against young people.

The devastating heat and wildfires in Portugal are restricting their ability to sleep and exercise, harming their physical health and causing them mental anguish. They also claim that climate anxiety has spread among their generation. “The fires are very close to where I live,” Martim Duarte Agostinho, 20, told Euronews in Strasbourg ahead of the trial.

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