Greta Thunberg, 600 others are suing Sweden for climate action | Environmental news
The trial comes at the same time as Sweden’s new right-wing government faces increasing criticism for weak climate targets.
Over 600 young people in Sweden, including the climate activist Greta Thunberg, have sued the Swedish state and accused it of climate action.
The lawsuit, which was symbolically submitted to the Stockholm district court during a protest in the city on Friday, had previously been submitted electronically to another Stockholm court, according to the organization behind the lawsuit, Aurora.
– There has never been such an extensive case in the Swedish legal system, says Ida Edling, a member of Aurora, to the AFP news agency.
The legal action, which has been ongoing for two years, comes at the same time as Sweden’s new right-wing government faces increasing criticism for weak climate targets.
Moa Widmark, a 19-year-old student, said she took part in Friday’s demonstration because “the climate crisis is worrying and scary – we are heading for a disaster.”
Previous trials
While the lawsuit is the first in Swedish courts, six Portuguese youths have taken Sweden and 32 other countries to the European Court of Human Rights, accusing them of failing to address the climate crisis.
“If we win, there will be a judgment saying that the Swedish state must do its part of the global measures needed for the world to reach the 1.5 degree target,” Edling said.
In recent years, a growing number of organizations and citizens have turned to the courts to criticize what they claim is government inaction on the climate issue.
In December 2019, the Dutch Supreme Court ordered the government to reduce greenhouse gases by at least 25 percent by 2020, in a landmark case brought by an environmental group.
In a similar case in France, more than two million citizens took the French state to court for failing to act on climate change.
In a report published earlier this week, the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute said the average temperature in Sweden had risen almost 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) since the end of the 19th century, twice as fast as the global average.
Snow cover now lasts two weeks less, while precipitation has increased.