The Children and Young Adults Taking the Climate Fight to the Courts 02/01/2021
A group of chinstrap penguins walk atop an iceberg near Lemaire Channel, Antarctica, February 2020. Photo: Reuters/Ueslei Marcelino/Files.
As temperatures, seas, and related crises rise around the globe, a swelling tide of climate lawsuits is inundating courts. According to a 2019 report, more than 1,300 climate crisis cases have been brought against governments, companies, and other entities in at least 28 nations.
But these are uncharted waters for legal and ecological stewardship. Judges are being asked to navigate complex scientific evidence to rule on matters like whether a government enjoys an “absolute and unreviewable power” to destroy its nation, and whether citizens have a constitutional right to a pollution-free environment. Although many of the cases have floundered, a recent decision by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to fast-track a case brought by six young peop