Greta Thunberg is suing her native Sweden for not taking climate action

A group of children and young adults, including Greta Thunberg, have filed a class action lawsuit against the Swedish state for not taking adequate action to stop climate change.

The lawsuit is part of an international wave of climate-related legal action, some of it targeting national governments.

It follows a high-profile case from the Netherlands, where the country’s highest court ruled in 2019 that the government has a legal obligation to take action to mitigate global warming.

The Swedish lawsuit involves Thunberg, perhaps the world’s best-known climate change activist, and more than 600 others who claim Sweden’s climate policies violate its constitution as well as the European Convention on Human Rights.

“The Swedish state does not meet the constitutional requirement to promote sustainable development that leads to a good environment for present and future generations,” the group said in a statement.

In 2017, Sweden passed a climate law that requires the government to work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions toward a net zero goal set for 2045.

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is critical to meeting the 2015 Paris Agreement goal of keeping global warming below 2 degrees Celsius by the end of the century.

However, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February sparked an energy battle that stalled efforts, and UN-sponsored talks in Egypt this year failed to boost ambitions.

In an interview with Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter, Thunberg said she believed climate laws should be tightened.

“We don’t have laws that provide long-term protection against the consequences of climate and environmental crises, but we have to use the methods we have and do what we can,” she said.

The lawsuit, which has been in the works for two years, comes as the new Swedish government’s climate change policies face intense scrutiny.

The cabinet, which took power following elections in September, announced plans to ditch the environment ministry entirely. His 2023 budget has been criticized for including measures that are set to increase emissions from the transport sector.

“The Swedish state has never dealt with the climate crisis as it is, and the new government has clearly signaled that it won’t either,” said Anton Foley, 20, who is officially the lead plaintiff in the case. , said in a statement.

The lawsuit, filed in Stockholm on Friday, urges the court to require the government to take its “fair share” of global measures to keep greenhouse gas emissions in line with Paris Agreement targets.

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