the European Court of Human Rights must rule on State responsibility on Tuesday

The ECHR must rule in three separate cases. A first victory, according to the main applicants, six young Portuguese people, whose first objective was to force States to explain their climate policy.

The European Court of Human Rights must pronounce for the first time on Tuesday morning three highly anticipated decisions on climate justice, report France Culture and France Inter. These three decisions relate to three separate cases, with different petitioners, but they all criticize States for their climate inaction or the lack of ambition of their policies in this area.

The first case is brought by retired women of Swiss nationality, with the association Elders for Climate Protection, who denounce the failings of the Swiss state. The second is at the initiative of the former environmentalist mayor of Grande-Synthe in the North, Damien Carême, who attacks the French state for climate inaction.

“At some point, when you’re dealing with a wall that doesn’t want to recognize things, you have to try everything.”

Damien Carême, former mayor of Grande-Synthe at France Culture

at France Culture

“When we are dealing with a State which refuses its obligations, justice must speak, decides the ecologist. The more we advance in time, the more inaction there is, the more dramatic it becomes. And what worries me in the political language is that we hear more about fighting climate change, but about adapting to climate change.”

“They say our worries are fantasy”

The most important case, in terms of its scale, is brought by six young Portuguese people who criticize 32 European states for their climate inaction. “They say we are not really affected by heat waves and that our worries about the future are fantasy,” deplores one of the young people, Sofia, 19, interviewed by France Inter. The origin of their complaint dates back to 2017, after violent fires in Portugal. These mega-fires claimed 120 lives and had lasting effects on health, with allergies, sleep disorders, and even anxiety. Questioned by France Culture, Katharina, 23, who says she suffered from respiratory problems linked to the smoke from these fires, has a lot of hope: “I believe we have already achieved much of what was personally my main goal: for 32 governments to explain their climate policy to the European Court of Human Rights. The reality is that they have not no defense.” “We know that global warming could reach almost four degrees in our lifetime. This is a terrifying future, especially as we are already seeing extreme impacts in Portugal, with just one degree more. European governments have the power to do much more to reduce their emissions”she adds.

If the ECHR rules in favor of the applicants, States will be invited to modify their legislation to comply with the commitments of the Paris Agreements. Decisions at the “symbolic significance”, which will not be accompanied “no coercive measures”, but can nevertheless serve as “basis for possible other actions by plaintiffs before national courts”explains to France Culture Vincent Brenot, lawyer specializing in environmental law. “We see it in all climate cases, the courts interpret the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights. They would have a judgment coming from Strasbourg on the climate. This would strengthen the position of those who bring these cases to court”specifies to France Inter Gerry Liston of the NGO Global Legal Action Network.