Young people behind a landmark climate lawsuit that struggled to find its footing in court are now asking an international body to find that the U.S. government has violated their rights.
The former plaintiffs in Juliana v. United States, a case the U.S. Supreme Court declined to revive in March after several legal setbacks, filed a petition Tuesday with the Costa Rica-based Inter-American Court of Human Rights accusing the U.S. government of violating their rights twice over: first by embracing fossil fuels over the past five decades and then by taking “extraordinary” measures to prevent Juliana from ever being heard by a court.
“These youth hold fast to the hope that their children, grandchildren, and those who follow will one day experience their rights in full, in a world powered by the abundance of wind and solar energy,” said Kelly Matheson, deputy director of global strategy for Our Children’s Trust, the Oregon-based law firm that represents the youth. “That hope drives their action.”
The young activists’ climate rights petition is the first of its kind since the Inter-American Court of Human Rights issued an advisory opinion in July that declared global warming a human rights emergency and recognized the right to a healthy climate. The opinion came just weeks before the International Court of Justice, the United Nations’ top court, said nations must cut emissions to address the “urgent and existential threat” of climate change.
