European nations must protect citizens from climate change impacts, EU human rights court rules

Strasbourg, France — Europe's highest human rights court ruled Tuesday that its member nations have an obligation to protect their citizens from the ill effects of climate change, but it still threw out a high-profile case brought by six Portuguese youngsters aimed at forcing countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The European Court of Human Rights sided with more than 2,000 Swiss members of the Senior Women for Climate Protection group, who sought similar measures to the Portuguese youths, in a mixed session of judgements handed down on Tuesday. In a third, a French mayor similarly seeking stronger government efforts to combat climate change was also defeated.

Lawyers for all three had hoped the Strasbourg court would find that national governments have a legal duty to make sure global warming is held to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels, in line with the goals of the Paris climate agreement that those governments signed onto.