Today, the European Court of Human Rights held a groundbreaking climate hearing. The youngest plaintiff in the case is only 11 years old, and the oldest is 24 years old. They all survived the wildfires that ravaged Portugal in 2017. They filed lawsuits against the governments of 33 European countries, claiming that the high-temperature pollution caused by the earth violated their human rights.


The case, called "Duarte Agostinho and Others v. Portugal and 32 Other States" (Duarte Agostinho and Others v. Portugal and 32 Other States), was filed in 2020 by six young people from Portugal. If they win, they will get a legally binding ruling that will push countries, including the 27 EU member states, to speed up action on climate change.

"As in so many other places, young people are leading the way and demonstrating that climate justice can be achieved through legal means," Mandi Mudarikwa, head of strategic litigation at Amnesty International, said in an emailed statement. "Amnesty International submitted a written submission in support of the plaintiffs."

"Young people set the trend"

This group of young people believe that they "face risks to their lives and well-being caused by climate change", which violates their rights under the European Convention on Human Rights. This includes their rights to life, privacy and family life, as well as the right to be free from age-based discrimination, torture and inhuman or degrading treatment.

Deadly wildfires in Portugal in 2017 killed more than 120 people. The fire nearly reached the home of siblings Cláudia, Martim and Mariana Agostinho, but ash covered their garden, smoke choked the air, and Martim's school was forced to close.

"What I felt was fear," Claudia Agostinho told the BBC. "The wildfires made me very anxious and didn't know what my future would be." "

Climate change is already leading to intensified droughts and warmer temperatures, making wildfires more dangerous. This risk will continue to rise as long as greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels continue to increase. A 2019 study said that "the extreme fire season of 2017 may be a precursor to future conditions under climate change." In other words, what was once a catastrophic event has become the new normal.

"This generation and their descendants will bear the brunt of the ongoing climate catastrophe. Countries must act now to prevent this disaster from escalating." To stop the situation from getting worse, she wrote, countries need to phase out fossil fuels, with the goal of preventing global warming from exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Climate research finds that this target could prevent millions of deaths from climate disasters.

The Paris Climate Agreement requires countries to limit global temperatures to "well below" 2 degrees Celsius and "endeavor to limit temperature rise to" 1.5 degrees Celsius. However, progress has been slow, with heads of state from many of the most polluting countries absent from last week's United Nations climate ambitions summit.

A decision in the case of Duarte-Agostinho et al v Portugal and 32 other countries is not expected for several months. And this is far from the only youth climate case before the courts. Earlier this year, a Montana judge ruled in favor of another group of teenage plaintiffs who sued the state for violating their rights to a clean environment.

The victory could force Montana to rewrite a policy that prohibits officials from considering climate change when approving new energy projects. Another youth climate lawsuit in Hawaii is expected to go to trial next year after fires ravaged the island of Maui. The Biden administration will also face a federal climate lawsuit originally filed by teenagers against the United States during the Obama administration.