A RISE in the number of young people taking their governments to court over inaction on climate change has set precedents that could reshape environmental policy, a report suggests.
Groups of young people in various countries have taken legal action over climate policies or lack of action, with varying degrees of success, in recent years. A report, Accelerating Climate Solutions through Youth-Focused litigation: Report and findings of roundtables held at King’s College London on 5 April 2024 and 6 December 2024, analysing the cases, has been published by the college with the World Council of Churches (WCC) and other organisations.
It includes the “groundbreaking” 2023 case in the United States won by 16 young people against the state of Montana, affirming their right to grow up in a clean and healthy environment.
In Portugal, six young people filed a case with the European Court of Human Rights against 33 countries, alleging that these had violated human rights by failing to take significant action on climate change. The case was eventually deemed inadmissible because the complainants had failed to exhaust all domestic channels in Portugal.
Even where such action fails, there is a lot to learn, the report says.
For many young people, litigation could be the “first line of defence rather than a last resort” as, because of their age, they are locked out of normal accountability, mechanisms such as having voting rights. They are also, it says, among the worst-affected by the climate crisis, as they have more years yet to live.
“Young people are more vulnerable than adults to physical consequences of climate change (such as extreme heat, drought, and wildfires) as well as the social repercussions of living in pressurised conditions caused by such crises (such as harm to children’s education or their economic well-being, and increased violence),” the report says.
“Moreover, more youth are experiencing climate anxiety due to the prospect of adulthood in a world currently expected to experience 3.0°C warming by the end of this century.”
The report says that there has been a “significant turning point in climate change litigation as young people around the world increasingly assert their rights by challenging institutional action and inaction on climate change”.
Two round-tables were organised by the Centre for Climate Law and Governance at King’s, to explore opportunities for improving rights of young people through litigation on the climate crisis. Such collaborative efforts offer “a beacon of hope amid the ongoing climate crisis”, the report says.
A second, “child-friendly”, version of the report was produced for younger readers. This tells young people that “you have a right to a healthy planet, and your voice matters in the fight against climate change,” and says that litigation shows that “courts are beginning to listen to young people’s concerns about climate change,” although it acknowledges that such cases can be lengthy and stressful.
The WCC has created a new project to support churches that want to support young people in taking legal action. The project Legal Action for Intergenerational Climate Justice “supports churches in taking a far too heavy burden from children’s shoulders when they start understanding and facing the climate emergency”, Frederique Seidel, of the WCC, said.
Churches and partners who wish to join the project can email churchesforchildren@wcc-coe.org.
