In just 5 days, the 6 young people will be sitting across from the 32 well-resourced legal teams representing governments whose climate inaction is already harming them.   

The stakes could not be higher. Without urgent action by governments, the youth-Applicants, like many others, face unbearable heat and weather extremes that harm their health and well-being. We’re talking about conditions which leading scientists say are unliveable. 

Governments have failed and we need to the Court to step in.   

Over the last six years GLAN has supported the youth bringing this enormous case that has been described as ‘momentous and unique’ in global climate litigation. Now we need your help at this critical moment to spread the word far and wide.

People power is what has got us this far and we are so grateful to everyone who has supported us and donated to this crowdfund.   

“This judgment would act like a binding treaty imposed by the court on 32 Governments, requiring them to rapidly accelerate their climate mitigation efforts. It would be a game changer.” 

- Gerry Liston, GLAN Senior Lawyer

The youth-Applicants remain hopeful that this case will compel governments to act. Stand with the six youth-Applicants bravely bringing this case by spreading the word on social media - your support is so important in helping us reach our goal.

Together we can do this - we look forward to updating you from Strasbourg! 

Europe is experiencing heat and weather extremes like never before, with wildfires and heatwaves disastrously becoming the norm. Governments are failing to take the urgent and necessary action to avert a climate catastrophe.  

The six Portuguese children and young adults are preparing to head to the European Court of Human Rights and challenge 32 governments in court next month, a daunting prospect! We have only been able to support them in this fight for their rights with your help, and we kindly ask you once again in the lead up to the court date to show your support for the young people by sharing this crowdfund and helping us reach our goal. 

If successful, these 32 countries would be legally bound, not only to ramp up their emissions cuts, but also to tackle their overseas contributions to climate change, including their exports of fossil fuels.  

Your continued support is crucial to the success of this historic climate case, together we can make a difference. Thank you! 

The Court has just announced a hearing date for our case.  On 27^th September 2023, GLAN and six Portuguese youths will stand before the Grand Chamber at the European Court of Human Rights, calling out 32 European governments for failing to take action on climate change.

The next five months are crucial as we prepare to demand these governments make vital changes to cut their emissions, change fossil fuels practices and implement policies that will help slow the rising climate.

Help us build momentum and maximise pressure on the Court to rule in favour of curbing climate change.  Please donate to the final push towards the biggest climate case of all time. 

The European Court of Human Rights has referred our case to the 17-judge Grand Chamber. Only a tiny fraction of cases – 0.03% – which the Court believes raise the most serious issues are sent to the Grand Chamber. And it now means that Cláudia, Catarina, Martim, Sofia, André and Mariana will see their case heard by 17 judges in Strasbourg, hopefully before the end of 2022. Never before have so many States had to defend them themselves before any international court or body. So this will be a hearing of unprecedented scale on an issue of unprecedented consequence.

As we stand on the cusp of securing a decision from Europe’s highest human rights court which compels European governments to take the radical action needed to halt the climate crisis, we ask for your continued support.

In our last update we explained how we expected to receive all 33 government replies to our arguments during July. We eventually received them in late August and since then have been extremely busy digesting over well over 15,000 pages of legal arguments and evidence.

The Court has granted us until 12 January 2022 to submit our counter-responses. Our legal team have been carefully building this phase of our case and securing new evidence. With extra resources required for this intensive work we continue to seek your support. 

Our team will also be attending COP26 . This will be a unique opportunity to build support for our case and to connect with other legal teams who seek urgent action on climate change.

In our last update, we indicated that, as well as refusing the defendant governments’ requests to reverse its decision to fast-track this case, the Court allowed them an extension to submit their defences to the 27^th May. We are still to receive these defences as the Court has permitted the governments until the 5^th July to translate their defences into the official languages of the Court (English or French). We have been using the extra time available to us to assemble the strongest possible evidence and to strengthen our legal team. We now have an extremely strong team of fifteen lawyers made up of nine barristers and six lawyers working exclusively on the case within GLAN. 

In another important development, a number of high-profile organisations and individuals submitted very supportive “third party interventions” in this case. They include, the European Commissioner for Human Rights, the UN Special Rapporteurs on Human Rights and the Environment and on Toxic Substances and Human Rights, Amnesty International, Greenpeace and Save the Children (among many others). These interventions are available on our website here: https://youth4climatejustice.org/the-case/

Please continue to support the youth-applicants in their major legal battle by supporting and sharing this crowdfund.

Thank you!

In another significant step towards a ground-breaking legal victory, the European Court of Human Rights has rejected a coordinated effort by the defendant governments in this case to overturn the Court's decision to fast-track the case "on the basis of the urgency and importance of the issues raised".

Following the decision to fast-track the case, all 33 governments wrote to the Court arguing that the youth-applicants are not exposed to imminent danger and therefore that the case should not be treated as urgent. They also sought an opportunity to argue that the case should be declared inadmissible without their climate policies being subjected to scrutiny. But the Court refused both requests!

It did however grant the defendant States an extension to the 27th May to respond to the youth-applicants' case.

Please continue to support the youth-applicants in their major legal battle by supporting and sharing this crowdfund.

Thank you!

We are now weeks away from receiving the defences of the 33 States which Sofia, André, Cláudia, Martim, Mariana and Catarina have taken their case against. They are due on the 26^th February. Together with reports and other material they include with their defences, this material could come to thousands of pages in total. GLAN has prepared by hiring six outstanding researchers to support the major effort that will be involved in responding to all 33 States’ defences. We have also expanded our team of barristers.

The importance of this upcoming phase of the case cannot be overestimated. Please continue to support the youth-applicants in their major legal battle by supporting and sharing this crowdfund.

Thank you!

On November 30th 2020, the European Court of Human Rights announced it is fast-tracking our climate case. The court also “communicated” the case to the 33 defendant countries which requires each one of them to respond to our complaint by the end of February 2021. Only a very small minority of cases filed with the Court get this far. This is a major development!

WHAT NOW?

Now the six youth-applicants and their legal team have to respond to the defenses of 33 states and their lawyers. We are working with climate experts to mobilise the evidence needed to do this. Please help the youth-applicants in this crucial stage of their case by supporting and sharing this crowdfund.