Families sue EU over climate change

By TPN/Lusa, in News · 14-08-2018 07:16:00 · 0 Comments

The European Court has accepted a case filed against European institutions by 10 families from various European countries and others, who consider not enough has been done to counteract climate change, the Portuguese ‘Zero’ ecology association said on Monday.

"This is the first step in the ‘People's Climate Case’, Zero, which monitored the case from Portugal, said.

The European Parliament and Council “are the targets of this case and shall have to present their defence in the next two months", Zero said, adding that it welcomed the European Court’s decision “at a time when the climate change effects are sweeping across Europe".

The court case was launched in May by families from various parts of the world and the Sáminuorra Youth Association (Sweden), based on the argument that the EU is not doing everything within its powers to protect the fundamental rights of its citizens regarding the adverse effects of climate change.

The groups of citizens from Portugal, Germany, France, Italy, Romania, Greenland, Fiji, Kenya and Sweden involved in the 'People's Climate Case', are accompanied by environmental defence associations, lawyers and scientists who believe the EU can and must do more to reduce greenhouse gases that are the main cause of global warming.