Portuguese children afflicted by forest fires are raising funds to sue European countries, accusing them of failing to deal with climate change and endangering their lives.

Portugal’s worst ever forest fires this summer killed more than 60 people and injured hundreds. The disaster directly affected the plaintiffs, aged between five and 14, in the central region of Leiria.

The six school children, who are represented by British environmental lawyers and supported by the NGO Global Legal Action Network, are aiming to raise an initial £20,000 to build evidence for the case, and a total of £350,000 to take their case to the European court of human rights in Strasbourg.

Crowdfunding efforts have been launched on the CrowdJustice platform. At the time of writing almost £6,000 had been raised.

“The good news is that it is still possible to avoid catastrophe. But time is very quickly running out,” the webpage reads. “We are taking this case to make sure that the countries signed up to the ECHR make much greater cuts to their emissions – and do so in time.”

The lawyers are seeking a court ruling for the 47 European countries which demands they tackle emission reduction and commit to keeping most of their existing fossil fuel reserves in the ground. The court ruling would be binding.

Countries include the UK, Ireland, France and Germany - all of the major emitters which have signed up to the European Convention on Human Rights – and who are responsible for about 15 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

The lead counsel, Marc Willers QC of Garden Court Chamber, told The Guardian that the lawsuit would be the first ever to bring multiple governments to court at the same time regarding climate change.

Lisa Murray's climate change photography Show all 12 1 /12 Lisa Murray's climate change photography Lisa Murray's climate change photography Dinka cattle herders starting their migration in South Sudan Lisa Murray Lisa Murray's climate change photography A Dinka woman fetches water in South Sudan Lisa Murray Lisa Murray's climate change photography Veronica in South Sudan preparing tea outside her home, recently ravaged by heavy flooding Lisa Murray Lisa Murray's climate change photography Children playing in Vietnam. When it floods, transport to and from school is a major challenge Lisa Murray Lisa Murray's climate change photography Sugeng, a fish and crab farmer from Indonesia who suffers financially every time the area floods Lisa Murray Lisa Murray's climate change photography Tan, a vegetable farmer, learning new methods through Oxfam in Vietnam Lisa Murray Lisa Murray's climate change photography Maluk, a 19-year-old from Tonj South, South Sudan Lisa Murray Lisa Murray's climate change photography Normally this farmer in South Sudan would be harvesting sorghum, but rains are late so the hunger season continues Lisa Murray Lisa Murray's climate change photography Herders bringing home their cattle in Afar, Ethiopia Lisa Murray Lisa Murray's climate change photography Farmers harvesting chilli in Ethiopia Lisa Murray Lisa Murray's climate change photography A woman in Tigray, Ethiopia, scares birds away from her crops with a slingshot Lisa Murray Lisa Murray's climate change photography Irula tribe woman in Tamil Nadu Lisa Murray

A 14-year-old, one of the plaintiffs, told the newspaper: “Climate change causes many problems, but if I had to name the ones that worry me the most, it would be the sea level rise, which leads to the destruction of shores and infrastructure such as dams, roads and houses, and also the increase in the number of forest fires that we’ve been observing lately – especially this summer, as the fires caused many deaths and left our country in mourning.”

The case is not the first time a group managed to sue the government over climate change. In 2015 more than 800 Dutch citizens, aided by NGO Urgenda, sued their government for negligence for knowingly contributing to a breach of its global warming target.

The Dutch government was ordered to cut its emissions by a quarter within five years.

Increasing numbers of young people are proactively tackling climate change in the courts.