Climate change: First children's climate trial in US history to be held
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Three of the sixteen taking the state of Montana to court
A group of young people are suing the US state of Montana over the effects of climate change.
What is expected to be the first children's climate trial in US history, is due to take place in June.
Sixteen children and young people between the ages of five and 21 will argue that the US state of Montana is responsible for climate change effects impacting their lives.
The 16 young people say that by supporting and promoting an energy system driven by fossil fuels, the state of Montana is failing to protect their rights, including the right to a healthy and clean environment.
The youth-led climate case called Held v. State of Montana is now scheduled for trial June 2023.
Nate Bellinger, Senior lawyer at Our Children's Trust, the public law firm which is supporting the case said the trial will be historic.
"As climate destructions mount with each passing month, it has never been more important for youth-led constitutional climate cases, such as this one, to have their day in court," he said.
Coal, oil and natural gas are all types of fossil fuels.
Fossil fuel is a major source of energy.
But they are also a massive contributor to pollution and global warming.
Coal is the most polluting way of producing energy. When it is burnt it lets out greenhouse gases, mostly carbon dioxide (CO2). It releases more carbon dioxide than oil or gas.
Other child-led climate change trials
Andr茅 and Sofia are waiting for their challenge to 33 countries to be heard in the European Court of Human Rights
This isn't the first time young people have used the law to challenge people in power and try to force action on climate change.
Another US case Juliana v. United States was filed against the US government by 21 young people in 2015, but it was dismissed in 2020 and those involved are waiting to see if changes to the lawsuit allow it to continue.
Meanwhile, a group of children in Portugal are waiting for their case against to be heard in the European Court of Human Rights.
Their case argues that governments in 33 European countries - including the UK - have not done enough to prevent the impact of climate change.
More and more children are using the legal system to hold governments to account and there have been successes.
The Netherlands, Colombia, and Germany are just some of the places where children and young people won their cases and new climate targets were brought in.
Why are these young people suing Montana?
Smoke and haze from wildfire blankets the rocky mountains in Montana
In the documents, there are details on how each of the 16 young people have been affected.
Rikki Held, 21, says that climate change caused the river on her family's ranch to dry up, climate change caused more problems with disease and their farm suffered economically. She also says it has affected her health and wellbeing.
The youngest of the group, Nate, was just two when the legal action started, he is now five years old. In the papers it says he suffers from breathing problems which his parents claim is due to climate change increasing Montana's wildfire season.
Other children were said to have health problems due to wildfires and were not able to play outside for months in the summer due to the smoke.
What is Montana's energy policy?
A spokesman for the Montana authorities says the legal case is "exploiting well-intentioned kids including a 4-year old and an 8-year old to achieve its goal of shutting down responsible energy development in Montana."
In 2021, Montana ranked 10th among the states with the largest share of electricity generated from renewable energy - about 52% according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA).
But coal still provided the largest share of Montana's electricity in 2021, accounting for 43% of in-state electricity.
As a state, Montana's goals from 2021 include increasing use of Montana's coal reserves in "an environmentally sound manner" and increasing "local oil and gas exploration and development to provide high-paying jobs and to strengthen Montana's economy."
- Published20 January 2020
