The Aurora network, which was formed with the aim of suing the state, believes that the shortcomings threaten human rights. A first step is that the group has sent a long list of demands for changes in environmental and climate policy to the government.
Refers to the Paris Agreement
The requirements include new and stricter climate targets and that all carbon dioxide emissions are included – not just those that come from coal, gas and oil. They refer to the Paris Agreement where the global average temperature is to be limited to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels.
– It seems quite obvious that you can not get out of a climate crisis if you do number tricks and only talk about a third of the whole, says Anton Foley, board member Aurora.
Stockholm Conference + 50
The process starts at the same time as the government invites to a party to celebrate that it has been 50 years since the UN’s very first environmental conference in Stockholm.
The group has given the politicians until Wednesday – the day before Stockholm + 50 – to answer.
– We think it is a brilliant opportunity because Sweden has presented itself as a world leader ahead of this conference. We simply point out the shortcomings that exist in climate work. If the state does not give us a satisfactory answer, we will sue them, says Ida Edling.
Examples around the world
In the last ten years, there have been examples where courts in countries such as Pakistan, Colombia and the Netherlands have ruled that states have not done what they are supposed to do to save the environment and the climate.
But Jonas Ebbesson, professor of environmental law, has a hard time believing that the group’s list of demands will be successful in a Swedish court.
– They should look at this again before submitting a lawsuit. What Aurora wants to do is sue the state in a dispute and then you have to show that there is a dispute. I see this as the biggest problem because it is a very general measure.