More than 600 young people, including climate activist Greta Thunberg, filed a lawsuit today against the Swedish state over what they call inadequate climate action, a first in the Scandinavian region.

“There has never been a climate change case of this magnitude in the Swedish judiciary,” Ida Edling, a member of the Aurora Committee, the movement that initiated the appeal, told AFP.

The commission said the complaint, which was symbolically filed during a demonstration in the Swedish capital, was already filed digitally with the Stockholm court today.

Sharp criticism of the new Swedish government

The appeal has been under development for almost two years, but it comes as Sweden’s new right-wing government is being criticized for its lack of climate ambitions.

Although this lawsuit is the first one brought to Swedish justice, Sweden, along with 32 countries, has already been brought before the European Court of Human Rights by six young Portuguese in 2020, again for alleged lack of action against global warming.

“If we win, a court decision will be made, according to which the Swedish state will be obliged to contribute to the globally necessary measures to maintain the goal of 1.5 degrees,” said Ida Edling.

The number of organizations turning to justice is growing

In recent years, more and more organizations and citizens have turned to justice to denounce what they see as government inaction on the greenhouse effect.

In a landmark case, the Dutch Supreme Court in December 2019 ordered the government to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 25% by the end of 2020.

“Deed of the Century”

In France, a similar case, “The Case of the Century”, led more than 2 million citizens to acknowledge the state’s failure to tackle climate change.

In a report released on Tuesday, the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI) highlighted that the country’s average temperature has risen by almost two degrees since the end of the 19th century, twice as fast as the global average.

The period when Sweden is covered with snow is already two weeks shorter, and the amount of precipitation in the Scandinavian country has increased.

Source: APE-MPE, AFP.