Activist group suing Sweden over climate inaction expects trial in 2027

Activists suing Sweden for allegedly failing to take sufficient action on climate change told AFP Monday they expected the trial to start in the second half of 2027.

Lawyers for the Swedish state and the Aurora association, which includes climate activist Greta Thunberg, met on Monday for a pre-trial hearing at the Stockholm District Court.

"This is the first time that Sweden's climate duties are ever discussed in a Swedish district court, so it's a historic moment," Ida Edling, Aurora's legal coordinator, told AFP outside the courthouse.

The group has been trying for years to bring a case in Sweden but it had previously fallen foul of legal technicalities.

The Supreme Court threw out an attempt last year because it was brought on behalf of an individual, but said in its ruling that an "association" might be able to bring a case. Aurora filed a new suit in February.

Edling told AFP the parties meeting on Monday aimed "to figure out what these continued proceedings are going to be about".

"We're going to try to clarify what we're in agreement about and what we aren't," Edling said.

Sweden denies the group's accusation that it is failing to do enough to curb climate change, driven by human-caused greenhouse gas emissions.

Martin Mork, a lawyer representing the state, told AFP that Sweden had fulfilled its obligations under European law.

The state asked the court to consider whether it would need to ask for a preliminary ruling from the EU's Court of Justice.

In a landmark April 2024 decision, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Switzerland was not doing enough to tackle climate change -- the first country ever to receive such a conviction from an international tribunal.