In an online press conference, the young people said they were nervous about the decision scheduled for April 9, but added that they believed that the ECHR would prove them right.

The motivation for the complaint was the large fires of 2017, which young people say caused a lot of anxiety and which they consider to be the result of climate change.

André Oliveira, one of the young complainants, recalled that since then the climate situation has deteriorated, that the months and years have broken temperature records and that Portugal is experiencing a tropical climate. “It scares me to think what will happen in the next few years,” he said.

Sofia Oliveira added that the heatwave's extreme meteorological phenomena such as a small tornado last week, on the outskirts of Lisbon, also justifies the anxiety that, she says, young people feel about the climate.

Inspiration

Despite being anxious about the decision, young people, like Catarina Mota, believe that reason is on their side and that, whatever the verdict, the action will serve to inspire people to act and pressure their governments to do more for defence of the environment.

“We hope that the ECHR will prove us right, we hope that governments will be forced to reduce their emissions” of carbon dioxide, added the young woman.

The case of the six young Portuguese people is considered together with two other cases, one against Switzerland and the other against France. André Oliveira said at the press conference that he does not believe that the three cases will be rejected and considered that if at least one wins, it belongs to everyone.

If the ECHR finds them right, the fight against climate change will enter another level, the youth lawyer, Gerry Liston, who is part of the non-profit organization “Global Legal Action Network” and who participated in the conference, also highlighted at the press conference press conference, which was also joined by the organization's director, Gearóid Ó Quinn.

Stressing that governments have an obligation to protect populations from climate change, the lawyer also said that this case could lead other people, in other countries, to file complaints against governments that do not fulfil this obligation.

On September 27 last year, the six young people were heard at the ECHR, having then considered that States had devalued climate change and ignored evidence.

Appealing to the courts regarding countries' inaction in relation to climate change is increasingly common, indicates a recent UN report, according to which cases have more than doubled in five years.

The reading of the ruling, in a public hearing, is scheduled for April 9th at 9:30am (mainland Portugal time).