Largest Climate Change Lawsuit in History Kicks Off in European Court

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at Europe’s unprecedented climate change lawsuit, North Korea’s release of a U.S. soldier, and Azerbaijan’s arrest of an Armenian separatist leader.

The largest climate change lawsuit in history has officially begun in a European court. On Wednesday, representatives from 32 European nations appeared before the European Court of Human Rights to face charges of having violated the complainants’ human rights by failing to adequately address climate change.

The case was brought by six Portuguese young people, ages 11 to 24, who argue that the governments’ inaction on climate change has hurt their health and well-being, thereby violating their rights to life, privacy, and being free from inhumane treatment. If the court agrees, then it could force the countries to strengthen efforts to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. A ruling is expected in the first half of 2024.

“This case is unprecedented in its scale and its consequence,” said Gearóid Ó Cuinn, the director of the U.K.-based Global Legal Action Network, which backs the complainants in the lawsuit. “Never before have so many countries had to defend themselves in front of any court anywhere in the world.”

Among their chief arguments, the young people aim to prove that the 27 member states of the European Union along with Britain, Switzerland, Norway, Russia, and Turkey failed to enforce competent climate change legislation—and thus will cause global warming to hit 3 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by the end of their lifetimes. According to the United Nations, global warming must not exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2030 to comply with 2015 Paris Agreement standards.

“Without urgent action to cut emissions, [the place] where I live will soon become an unbearable furnace,” 20-year-old claimant Martim Agostinho said.

In the last year, much of Europe has been irreparably damaged by environmental disasters. Record-setting heat waves have contributed to devastating wildfires and mass droughts. Flooding has destroyed crops and uprooted neighborhoods. Frigid winters have been exacerbated by energy crises. And the growing ferocity of storms has pushed thousands of Europeans to abandon their homes.

But what impacts Europe is not isolated to the continent’s borders. This month, deadly flooding caused by Storm Daniel in Turkey, Greece, and Bulgaria—all of which are being sued in the upcoming climate trial—also hit Libya, where it killed thousands of people and decimated much of the city of Derna.

European nations have taken measures to try to slow climate change. In April, the European Parliament approved a bill that revises the EU’s carbon market by establishing a carbon tax on top emitters. A few months later, EU lawmakers passed legislation to phase out new fossil fuel car sales by 2035. And on Sept. 13, the bloc approved new rules requiring airlines to have 70 percent of their fuel be sustainable by 2050.

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Welcome back. U.S. Army Pvt. Travis King was returned to U.S. custody on Wednesday after being held in North Korea for 70 days. King illegally crossed into the country on July 18 while on a civilian tour of the Demilitarized Zone separating North and South Korea. According to one senior U.S. official, no concessions were made to North Korea to secure King’s release. Both China and Sweden helped mediate talks between Washington and Pyongyang as well as organized King’s flight out of the autocratic nation.

King allegedly sought asylum in Pyongyang after becoming disillusioned with U.S. society, particularly “inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination within the U.S. Army,” according to North Korea. The 23-year-old was due to face U.S. military court upon returning to the United States after being detained in a South Korean facility for assault. Whether he will face those charges now is still to be seen.

Former separatist leader arrested. Azerbaijani forces arrested former Armenian separatist leader Ruben Vardanyan on Wednesday. He was detained while trying to flee Nagorno-Karabakh following Baku declaring sovereignty over the region in a cease-fire on Sept. 20. Vardanyan led the separatist movement in Nagorno-Karabakh from November 2022 until this February.

Azerbaijani forces have been looking for “war crimes” suspects as more than 47,000 Armenians have fled the disputed territory in the last week. Baku, however, has promised that Armenian fighters who surrender their weapons will be granted amnesty. Vardanyan is expected to be handed over to state authorities once he is brought to Azerbaijan’s capital to face “justice.”

Easier entry. Israelis will now be allowed to visit the United States without a visa, the Biden administration announced on Wednesday. The long-negotiated status came on the condition that Israel remove travel restrictions against Palestinian Americans and other Americans of Arab or Muslim descent. The change on the U.S. side goes into effect on Nov. 30.

For Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the visa waiver deal is a major breakthrough in strengthening U.S.-Israeli relations. For U.S. President Joe Biden, removing ethnic- and religious-based travel restrictions could improve diplomatic ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia, a top priority for the Biden administration. Yet many Democratic senators still have reservations over Israel’s willingness to comply with the visa waiver program’s equal treatment requirements.

Deadly fire. More than 100 people were killed and at least 150 others injured when a fire destroyed a packed wedding venue in Qaraqosh, Iraq, late on Tuesday. Flames ignited a ceiling decoration, which then spread through the hall. Iraq’s interior ministry has issued four arrest warrants for the owners of the building, and President Abdul Latif Rashid has called for an investigation.

First came the ability to rent Barbie’s Malibu Dreamhouse. Now, fans of DreamWorks’ beloved animated film Shrek can book a stay in a replica of the titular character’s swampy home. Airbnb announced on Tuesday that Shrek’s swamp is available for rent on Oct. 27-29. Located in the Scottish Highlands, guests can light earwax candles, sit on ogre-sized furniture, and use Shrek’s very own outhouse. Looks a lot better than being locked away in a tower.