Should inaction be a crime? A band of young Portuguese children are challenging European governments over insufficient climate action. Some say this is the only way to halt the crisis.
Six young people sue 32 nations over climate
Should inaction be a crime? A band of young Portuguese children are challenging European governments over insufficient climate action. Some say this is the only way to halt the crisis.
<h2 class="wp-block-heading eplus-wrapper" id="crosshead">Crime of the century</h2>
On 17 June 2017, 156 wildfires ripped across Portugal. In the resulting firestorm, sixty-six people died and 204 were injured. That October it happened again, claiming 49 more lives across Portugal and neighbouring Spain.
Claudia Duarte Agostinho, now aged 24, was there: "What I felt was fear. The wildfires made me really anxious about what sort of future I would have." She claims to have suffered from eco-anxiety since.
Her brother Martim's allergies have flared up, while their 11-year-old sister Mariana has started suffering from asthmaA common lung condition that can cause breathing difficulties..
Now the siblings have made a bold move. With three other young people, they have filed a lawsuit against 32 European governments.1 They accuse them of violating human rightsThe basic rights and freedoms that belong to every person in the world, from birth until death. They apply regardless of where you are from, what you believe or how you choose to live your life. Some have called for animals and even natural phenomena like rivers to have some form of human rights. by failing to fight climate change. If it succeeds, it could force the governments involved to take urgent climate action.
The youths can take heart from another lawsuit. In the USA this August, 16 young people won a case against Montana. They argued the state was violating their rights by allowing fossil fuel development.
The Montana verdict suggests that inaction on climate change may one day become criminal.
Some think this change is crucial. In 2015 journalists discovered that oil companies in the 1970s knew that burning fossil fuelsFuels made from decomposing plants and animals, including coal, natural gas and oil. These fuels release carbon dioxide, causing global warming. causes global warming. But they chose to cover their tracks. The world burned to protect their profits.
Decisions like these have made everyone on Earth a victim, whether Londoners breathing polluted air, farmers in Bangladesh losing land to rising sea levels or Portuguese teenagers facing deadly wildfires. As environmental writer Mark Hertsgaard says: "Every person on Earth today is living in a crime scene."
Others argue that prosecuting climate inaction is near-impossible. It can be hard enough to detect active environmental crimes, such as illegal tree-felling or poachingIllegally hunting animals that are either protected or on someone else's land. . How can we find those whose crime is doing nothing?
It is also difficult to decide who to blame. If we are to charge an oil company, do we arrest the executives, the shareholdersPeople who own shares in a company. Owning a share means somebody owns a very small part of the company. , all employees? Deciding where the buck stops will take decades - and we do not have the time.
Should inaction be a crime?
Yes: All those with the power to reduce climate change have a responsibility to do so. Failure to do so is a matter of life and death for all of us. It is only fair that they face the consequences.
No: Punishing those that all failed to act would take an enormous amount of effort, money and time. But the clock is ticking. We should stop looking back and focus all our resources on the future.
Or... Few of us are innocent. Every time we throw away a single-use plastic or use electricity generated from fossil fuels, we hurt the Earth. Where do we draw the line between victim and criminal?
Asthma - A common lung condition that can cause breathing difficulties.
Human rights - The basic rights and freedoms that belong to every person in the world, from birth until death. They apply regardless of where you are from, what you believe or how you choose to live your life. Some have called for animals and even natural phenomena like rivers to have some form of human rights.
Fossil fuels - Fuels made from decomposing plants and animals, including coal, natural gas and oil. These fuels release carbon dioxide, causing global warming.
Poaching - Illegally hunting animals that are either protected or on someone else's land.
Shareholders - People who own shares in a company. Owning a share means somebody owns a very small part of the company.
Six young people sue 32 nations over climate

Glossary
Asthma - A common lung condition that can cause breathing difficulties.
Human rights - The basic rights and freedoms that belong to every person in the world, from birth until death. They apply regardless of where you are from, what you believe or how you choose to live your life. Some have called for animals and even natural phenomena like rivers to have some form of human rights.
Fossil fuels - Fuels made from decomposing plants and animals, including coal, natural gas and oil. These fuels release carbon dioxide, causing global warming.
Poaching - Illegally hunting animals that are either protected or on someone else's land.
Shareholders - People who own shares in a company. Owning a share means somebody owns a very small part of the company.