A New Era of Climate Change Litigation: Greta Thunberg’s Lawsuit for Violations of Children’s Rights

Greta Thungberg along with 15 other children from 12 countries filed a complaint against five countries for violation of the activists’ rights as children to life, health, and peace as protected under the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). While the redress for actual action beyond suggestions by the CRC Committee seem unpredictable at this stage, Thunberg’s case successfully heightened political and legal discourse pertaining to climate change.

Greta Thunberg addresses climate strikers at Civic Center Park in Denver. Photo: Andy Bosselman, Streetsblog Denver.

By: Jenny Li, staff member

“I shouldn’t be up here. I should be back at school on the other side of the ocean. You all come to us young people for hope. How dare you! You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words.” Greta Thunberg, a sixteen year old climate activist addressed the United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York City on September 23, 2019. This speech immediately went viral, garnering support from around the world and from prominent American politicians like Senator Kamala Harris and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. Her speech is particularly impactful as the U.N. this year made climate action the top of its agenda.

Thunberg is a Swedish environmental climate activist who, in August 2018, started striking from school on Fridays as a form of solo climate protest. Since then, students around the world joined the protests called “Fridays For Future,” leading up to the global climate strikes throughout September with participants surpassing 4 million. Supporters are drawn to Thunberg’s image as a young activist, her direct and earnest answers, her innovative method of skipping school to protest, her active social media presence, her choice of carbon-neutral sail boat as transportation to the United States, and her general boldness in addressing climate change at a grassroots level.

On the same day as the speech, Thunberg, along with 15 other children from 12 countries filed a complaint against five countries for violation of the activists’ rights as children to life, health and peace as protected under the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The children sued Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany, Turkey but could not sue US and China—which contribute the most carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases—because those two countries have not ratified Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) treaty for children to seek justice. The CRC is an international human rights treaty intended to protect children’s civil, economic, social, political and cultural rights. Since the adoption of Optional Protocols in 2011, children may submit complaints. These complaints are adjudicated by an independent Committee of the CRC, which assesses the case and submit its recommendations to the countries. The countries must then respond within six months with an adequate plan or subject to further inquiries by the Committee. However, to reach the Committee, Thunberg’s case must clear the substantial legal hurdle of admissibility—that they have exhausted all options in their home countries.

Petitioners allege that the countries failed to meet their emissions goals as outlined under the 2015 Paris Agreement. The complaint states that the countries knowingly contributed to the climate crisis and threatened the children’s lives with unstable weather, impending natural disasters, diseases, and epidemics. Under the Paris Agreement, countries pledged to cut greenhouse-gas emissions and try to keep global warming under two degrees Celsius. However, research organizations such as the IPCC have found that most countries made minimal efforts to meet their goals.

Following the countries’ failure to respect the Paris Agreement, lawsuits emerged around the world in which citizens sued on the claim of government duty to protect the environment. The first suit came in Netherlands, where the Hague Court of Appeals upheld an order requiring the Dutch government to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 25%, on the grounds that the government violated its duty of care under the Dutch Civil Code. In France, four French environmental organizations sent a letter of formal notice to Prime Minister Eduoard Philippe stating that the climate endangers the welfare of French citizens. In the United States, which has announced its desire to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, young plaintiffs asserted that the federal government violated their Constitutional rights to life and liberty by causing dangerous carbon dioxide concentrations in the Ninth Circuit case Juliana v. US.

These cases apply the theory of “atmospheric trust litigation,” a new litigation strategy based on the public trust doctrine and the government’s responsibility to manage natural resources for the public’s benefit. Unlike previous litigation on climate issues where plaintiffs focus on solutions to individual problems, this doctrine is a macro-approach seeking to enlist the government to enact a comprehensive strategy. Plaintiffs petition the court to compel other branches of the government to focus on climate change, which could lead to separation of power problems in the United States more so than in other countries like the Netherlands. Juliana shows how climate issues impact more than one branch of the government because of the court’s power to expand constitutional duty of the government to reduce emissions from fossil fuels.

This switch in litigation strategy indicates the broadening array of legal tactics being brought to bear on environmental protection, given that plaintiffs are asking entire governments to take the issue of climate change more seriously and to focus on broader policy strategies. Thunberg’s case further applies the theory by claiming a violation to children’s rights and urging the government to protect these rights. While the redress for actual action beyond suggestions by the CRC Committee seem unpredictable at this stage, Thunberg’s case successfully heightened political and legal discourse pertaining to climate change.

Jenny Li is a second-year student at Columbia Law School and a Staff member of the Columbia Journal of Transnational Law.