Greta Thunberg, 600 youths file lawsuit against Sweden for climate inaction

More than 600 young people in Sweden, including climate activist Greta Thunberg, have filed a lawsuit against the Swedish state accusing it of climate inaction, a first in the country.

“There has never been such a large-scale case in the Swedish legal system”, Ida Edling, a member of the organisation behind the lawsuit, Aurora, told AFP.

The lawsuit, symbolically submitted to the Stockholm district court during a protest in the city yesterday, had previously been filed electronically to another Stockholm court, Aurora said.

The legal action, which has been in the works for two years, comes as Sweden’s new right-wing government faces mounting criticism over lacklustre climate goals.

While the lawsuit is a first in the Swedish courts, six Portuguese youths have taken Sweden and 32 other countries to the European Court of Human Rights accusing them of failing to adequately address the climate crisis.