Swedish justice agreed on Tuesday to hear a lawsuit against the Swedish state for climate inaction, after a complaint filed by activist Greta Thunberg and hundreds of other young Swedes.
This is the first time that such an accusation has been heard in the Nordic country, where it will lead either to public hearings or to a procedure in written form, said the court of Nacka in the suburbs of Stockholm.
At the origin of the administrative complaint filed in November, the Aurora association asks the State to "
do its part in the global fight
" to limit global warming to 1.5°C compared to pre-industrial levels.
The state must also examine its maximum possibilities for reducing emissions according to the “
technological and economic
” capacities in Sweden, claims the association in its complaint.
The Nacka court announced that it was giving the Swedish state three months to respond to the lawsuits.
Greta Thunberg in the first signatories
Greta Thunberg, an early signatory of the complaint, regularly attacks politicians and governments for their supposed climate inaction.
On Monday, she told AFP that the lack of action by governments would constitute an "
unprecedented betrayal
" in the face of climate change.
Complaints to compel States to act for the climate have multiplied in Europe in recent years, under the initiative of associations and citizens.
Last year, the French state was found guilty of its climate inaction after a complaint was filed by nearly 2 million French people.
In 2019, the Supreme Court of the Netherlands had in a historic decision ordered the government to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 25% by 2020, after the complaint of an association of environmentalists.
