Swedish Supreme Court Rejects Greta Thunberg's Young Activist Lawsuit On Climate Change

Greta Thunberg/PHOTO via Instagram @greathunberg

JAKARTA - The Swedish Supreme Court ruled that Greta Thunberg and hundreds of other activists could not continue a class action lawsuit that seeks to force the state to take firmer action against climate change.

Activists filed a lawsuit in 2022 on the grounds that the state violated the European Convention on Human Rights because it did not do enough to limit climate change, or mitigate its impact, and the case has been reviewed under procedures.

The group of 300 plaintiffs in the case, calling themselves the Aurora group, wanted the courts to order Sweden to do more to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit).

"The courts cannot decide whether parliament or the government should take any specific action without the democratic body deciding independently on these issues," Supreme Court Justice Jonas Malmberg told Reuters on Wednesday, February 19.

But courts do not rule out climate change lawsuits that are formulated differently in Sweden, as the European Human Rights Court (ECHR) says groups meeting certain requirements may have the right to demand climate change.

The Supreme Court stated in its decision that such cases only concern the question of whether individual rights based on the convention have been violated, not what specific actions must be taken by the state," the Supreme Court said.

The Aurora group said it would review its legal options.

"We will continue to desperately try to prevent the collapse of the planet and make Sweden exercise their legal obligation to respect human rights and stop exacerbating the planet's crisis," Aurora's legal and scientific coordinator, Ida Edling, told Reuters.

Last year, the European Human Rights Court ruled the Swiss government had violated the rights of an elderly woman association for failing to do enough to combat climate change.

However, his side rejected two other cases, including one case filed by six Portuguese youths filed against 32 European countries in which plaintiffs said the countries failed to prevent a climate change disaster.

The court said the people must first ask for a decision in Portugal.