TRANSCRIPT
Six young people are preparing to appear at the European Court of Human Rights, arguing that the policies taken by the European nations against climate change are insufficient.
The claimants, who are aged between 11 and 24, are all from Portugal and will seek to force governments to radically readjust their climate policies and slash their emissions.
Sofia Oliveira was 12-years-old and her younger brother Andre was nine when catastrophic wildfires in central Portugal killed more than 100 people in 2017.
Sofia says they both feel it's time to raise their voices and take action.
“In 2017, I wanted to take action, I was 12 and Andre was 9, because we thought it was the right time because we felt a great deal of climate anxiety and also because we thought it is now or never to speak up.”
What's been described as the world's largest climate legal action coincides with calls from the International Energy Agency for a significant reduction in fossil fuels.
The agency says record growth in clean energy technology means it's still possible to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees.
Executive Director Fatih Birol has provided an update to the organisation's 'Net Zero Roadmap' which proposes scenarios to reach net zero emissions by 2050.
Mr Birol says that out of all clean energy sources, the one which has seen the most significant growth is solar energy.
"When I compare where we were two years ago when we published the first net zero 2050 study and today, I am really more hopeful. Because of the numbers. I can tell you that two, at least two major clean energy technologies are going very strong. One of them is solar energy. As I said recently, solar became the king of electricity markets."
Despite this growth, he says there's still a long way to go to reduce the impacts of climate change.
Among the key issues that still need to be addressed is an over-reliance on fossil fuels.
Mr Birol says all nations must work harder to limit their use.
"If we want to reduce emissions from fossil fuels, we have to reduce the use of fossil fuels. So simple. And our numbers show that if we want to reach the 1.5 degrees target, fossil fuels, the real use need to decline close to 25% between now and 2030."
Mr Birol says all developed nations that have set their net zero targets for 2050, will need to bring them forward.
The I-E-A says the world would need to invest over $7 trillion per year in the transition to cleaner energy from the start of the next decade, up from a spending of $2.8 trillion expected in 2023.
It has also called for a 75 per cent cut in energy sector methane emissions by 2030, which would cost an estimated $117 billion, just 2 per cent of net income received by the oil and gas industry in 2022.
Mr Birol has said nations must put their differences to the side if they hope to reach these goals, expressing his concerns about geopolitical tensions.
"We are at a time, in terms of the climate crisis, where we need to bring all the countries together because climate change does affect all the countries, all the citizens of all the governments. But I see that unfortunately at this very time, geopolitical tensions among the countries are rather serious."
