A group of children and young adults including Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg filed a class action lawsuit against her native country for failing to take adequate measures to stop climate change. The lawsuit is part of an international wave of climate-related legal action.
This comes after a high-profile case in the Netherlands, where the country’s highest court ruled in 2019 that the government had a legal obligation to take action on global warming.
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The suit involves Greta Thunberg and more than 600 others who claim that Sweden’s climate policies violate its constitution as well as the European Convention on Human Rights.
“The Swedish state fails to meet the constitutional requirement to promote sustainable development leading to a good environment for present and future generations,” the group said.
In an interview with Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter, Great Thunberg said she believes climate laws should be tightened.
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{{/usCountry}}“We don’t have laws that provide long-term protection from the consequences of climate and environmental crises, but we need to use the methods at our disposal and do everything we can,” she said.
The lawsuit, filed in Stockholm, urges the court to require that the government undertake its “fair share” of global measures to keep greenhouse gas emissions consistent with the Paris Agreements goals.