Climate action: Group of young people take 32 countries to court over human rights

Young people across Europe have been protesting for the leaders of their countries to do more about climate change. Now, they're taking their governments to court.

Six young people aged 11-25 are taking 32 countries in Europe to court over climate change.

The group from Portugal say that governments aren't doing enough to fight climate change, and that this is going against their human rights.

They say they were inspired to do something after seeing the impact of wildfires in Portugal in 2017, which destroyed huge amounts of forest.

This isn't the first time young people have taken their governments to court over climate change - kids in Montana in the USA and Austria did the same earlier this year.

'These governments are failing to protect us'

The group explained they felt they had to do something after wildfires destroyed large amounts of European forests

The case is being brought under the European Convention on Human Rights which protects the human rights of people in countries that have signed up.

47 states including the UK, have signed the Convention.

15-year-old André, one of the children involved in the case, says that the leaders of countries in Europe "are failing to protect us".

The group of young people say that governments are not protecting their human rights by not doing enough to tackle climate change.

In the case, the young people argue their rights to life, freedom from inhuman or degrading treatment, privacy and family life and freedom from discrimination are not being looked after.

What happens next?

Next stop is the European Court of Human Rights

The team of young people have sent special documents in explaining how their human rights are not being looked after.

The countries that they are accusing will be able to defend themselves with evidence.

The countries, including Greece, Ireland and Portugal, have said climate change is not a threat to human wellbeing.

The Greek government said the effects of climate change as recorded so far "do not seem to directly affect human life or human health".

The Portuguese government said the young peoples' claims were only about "future fears".

Now, the six young people are going to go to the European Court of Human Rights, with their evidence.

This is the biggest legal action on climate change that has ever happened.

Elsewhere around the world...

Earlier this year, other groups of young people have taken their governments to court over climate change.

In Montana, a state in the USA, a group of 16 kids managed to win their case against their state's government. They had argued that the government broke their right to "a clean and healthful environment", and said Montana wasn't doing enough about fossil fuel emissions.

In Austria, a group of twelve children aged five to 16 took their government to court, saying it needed to take tougher action on climate change.