Under the lawsuit, the petitioners have urged the court to press upon the government to undertake its “fair share” of global measures to keep greenhouse gas emissions consistent with the Paris Agreements goals
RH Desk
November 26
In a first, more than 600 young people in Sweden have filed a lawsuit against their government for its failure to take adequate measures to stop climate change.
The lawsuit, filed on Friday, also counts internationally acclaimed Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg as one of the petitioners.
“There has never been such a large-scale case in the Swedish legal system”, Ida Edling, a member of Aurora, the organization behind the lawsuit, told AFP.
Under the lawsuit, the petitioners have urged the court to press upon the government to undertake its “fair share” of global measures to keep greenhouse gas emissions consistent with the Paris Agreements’ goals.
The lawsuit is yet another instance of growing law-driven activism to fight climate change across the globe.
In a landmark case in 2019, the Netherlands’ apex court in Hague directed the Dutch government to cut down its greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by 2020. The ruling was hailed as an “immense victory for climate justice” by climate activists across the globe.
The new lawsuit in Sweden comes at a time when the country’s new right-wing government has been criticized for its uninspiring climate goals.
“If we win, there will be a verdict that says the Swedish state is required to do its share of the global measures needed for the world to meet the 1.5 degree target,” Edling said.
