Euroviews. In the European Court of Human Rights, we won a victory for generations

Tuesday, 9 April will go down in history as a milestone in the fight for a liveable future for all. 

On that day, the European Court of Human Rights recognised the climate crisis as an existential threat to us all and confirmed that our leaders must act immediately to protect people of all ages from accelerating harm. 

This ruling will be a crucial tool to pressure governments to reduce emissions, and activists are already taking to the streets to demand much stronger government action.

We and our fellow "applicants" — more than 2,500 Swiss senior women and six young people from Portugal — argued in two lawsuits against 32 European governments for violating our human rights by failing to take urgent climate action. 

Every tonne of greenhouse gas they emit pushes us closer to climate “tipping points” which will make our planet unliveable.

Though we are of different ages, reside in different countries, and speak different languages, we share the same struggle to survive a world of worsening weather extremes. 

Many of us find ourselves trapped indoors by heatwaves. Health conditions like asthma get exacerbated.

Despite the clear evidence of the climate crisis's negative impact on our lives, our governments fought tooth and nail in a court of law to downplay it, arguing that our fears were only figments of our imaginations. 

But it is they who are living in a fantasy world, claiming that their climate policies are sufficient while continuing to contribute to global heating, being on course for a catastrophic nearly 4°C increase by the end of this century.

While the governments succeeded in their efforts to have the Youth4ClimateJustice case against the 32 governments dismissed on technicalities, the KlimaSeniorinnen won against