EU skal nu forsvare klimapolitikken ved EU-domstolen.
En række familier har nemlig lagt sag an mod unionen, da de mener, at deres rettigheder ikke bliver forsvaret af en tilstrækkelig indsats mod klimaændringer.
Det fremgår af flere medier og en pressemeddelelse fra CAN.
EU-domstolen har nu formelt godkendt sagen.
Helt specifikt er det EU-parlamentet og Ministerrådet, der trækkes i retten for ikke at sørge for tilstrækkeligt ambitiøse klimamål for 2030.
Sagen blev indberettet til domstolen i maj af familier fra Portugal, Tyskland, Frankrig, Italien, Rumænien, Kenya og Fiji. Desuden er en svensk ugdomsorganisation for samerne involveret.
“The People’s Climate Case”, kalder aktivister retssagen. Parlamentet og Ministerrrådet froventes at levere et forsvar om to måneder.
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Her er en række citater fra Climate Action Network.
“Can you imagine how it feels to look out of your window and see the impacts of climate change? The drought and wildfires that happened in the last months are only a part of what reindeer herders are facing. The fact that the court has accepted our case gives me some hope. We need to act now.” said Sanna Vannar, president of the Swedish Saami Youth Association, Sáminuorra.
Armando Carvalho, the Portuguese plaintiff who lost his tree plantations during the forest fires in 2017 said: “ The wildfires destroyed my property in 2017. This year, we are once again struggling with massive heatwaves and wildfires in Europe. Since the beginning of this summer, many other people lost their lives and homes due to worsening impacts of climate change. We can not remain silent to this. This case is about our common future and we are glad to be one step closer to be heard.”
These families are represented by environmental lawyer Roda Verheyen, Prof. Gerd Winter and Hugo Leith. Roda Verheyen, the lawyer of the families said: “This case is about protecting the people, their livelihoods, and fundamental rights from the worsening impacts of climate change. This is a landmark case at the European level and I believe that we have all the necessary evidences to proceed about the impacts on the plaintiffs and the EU’s potential to do more on climate action.”
The People’s Climate Case is also supported by a broad range of NGOs, scientists and citizens who believe that the EU can and must increase its 2030 climate target. Wendel Trio, Director of Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe said: “The EU’s existing 2030 climate target is too low to protect people and their fundamental rights. We firmly believe that this court case will prove that the climate target needs to be significantly raised to ensure a safe future for all of us.”
