Published: Just now
1,620 researchers and teachers now join the youth-led group Aurora, which is suing the Swedish state for the climate crisis.
Researcher Isabelle Letellier is one of them:
– We can’t just watch when young people fight for their human rights, we need to take a stand for science.
The youth-led group Aurora is suing that state and believes that it is not treating the climate crisis as a crisis, in the so-called Aurora case.
Now 1,620 researchers and teachers join the group.
– We interpret it as part of our mission to share our knowledge. We should be able to do that even when it is inconvenient, and we are doing that now. We raise our voices when we see how the young are affected, says Isabelle Letellier, senior lecturer, child and youth studies at Stockholm University.
She is one of the researchers who supports the Aurora case and who has signed a debate article that the lawsuit against the Swedish state is right.
– Science says that we need far-reaching social change and this political work does not exist. It will have enormous consequences for children and young people. We as researchers and teachers can’t just watch when young people fight for their human rights, we need to take a stand for science, says Isabelle Letellier.
“We can solve the problems at the same time”
In a debate article, the researchers demand that Sweden, as one of the rich countries in the world and with historically high emissions, must contribute to financing the climate transition in countries most affected by climate change. It is a point in the Paris Agreement, but which, according to the researchers, is conspicuous by its absence in the Swedish climate work.
– It is important for countries with historically high emissions to go first. If we don’t do it, we can’t expect others to do it, says Isabelle Letellier, and believes that Sweden’s goals for reducing its emissions are insufficient.
At the same time, many Swedish households are currently affected by rising inflation, higher interest rates and high electricity and fuel prices, and the government has announced that the reduction obligation will be lowered to the EU’s minimum level from next year. It is not the right way to go, says Isabelle Letellier.
– These are not different problems that require different solutions. They do not contradict each other, we can solve these problems at the same time. We need the transition and, for example, to consume less and help those who need it most, she says.
“Important message to politicians”
As one of the 1,620 researchers and teachers who now stand behind the young people’s fight for climate change, Isabelle Letellier hopes that the research grant will be an important message in the debate and to the politicians.
– We want to convey that it is important that our young people are right and we support them in this atmosphere, we hope they win of course.