STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Sweden’s Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that Greta Thunberg and hundreds of other activists cannot proceed with a class action lawsuit that had sought to force the state to take stronger action against climate change.
Activists filed a lawsuit in 2022 arguing that the state violates the European Convention on Human Rights by not doing enough to limit climate change, or mitigate its effects, and the case has since been subject to review on procedural grounds.
The group of 300 plaintiffs in the case, who call themselves the Aurora group, wanted the courts to order Sweden to do more to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit).
But the court did not rule out that a climate lawsuit formulated differently could be heard in Sweden, as the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has said groups meeting certain requirements may have the right to sue over climate change.
“The Supreme Court states in its decision that such a case could only concern the question of whether individuals’ rights under the convention have been violated, not what specific measures the state is obliged to take,” it said in a statement.
