These Gen Z-Ers Are Suing The UK Government For Climate Change Inaction

Three 20-somethings are suing the British government for failure to act on climate change.

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Inaction over the Climate Emergency is the charge three Gen Z activists are laying at the feet of the British government, prompting them to file a legal action this week.

Adetola Stephanie Onamade, 23, Marina Tricks, 20 and Jerry Amokwandoh, 22 are the three young activists taking the UK government to court.

They allege that the Government’s ongoing financing of the climate crisis and its failure to develop a plan to tackle it, constitute a violation of their rights to life and to family life, a violation of the Paris Agreement and a violation of international law.

The three young people, suing the UK government allege that the Government is failing to
meet even its old, discredited domestic emission reduction targets, let alone Net Zero.

Boris Johnson’s “10 Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution” amounts to no more than £4billion in new funding compared to:

● £27billion of new investment in the road network
● £4billion climate condition-free loans for fossil-fuel based companies such as the US
oil services company Baker Hughes, and airlines such as RyanAir, Easyjet and Wizzair.
● £1billion in export finance for a new liquid natural gas project in Mozambique.

Taken together, the law suit alleges, these projects are inconsistent with the Government’s legally binding obligations under the Climate Change Act, the Human Rights Act and international law and consequently unlawful.

They are now asking for a judicial review of actions the government is taking to cut carbon emissions.

What Does Net Zero Really Mean? Everything You Need To Know About Carbon Emissions

This court case is part of the Global Majority campaign, which looks to represent those most at risk from climate change and most likely to be opressed in our out dated and broken international systems.

From the farmers in India currently protesting against commercial reforms that will kill their livelihoods to members of Gen Z taking action against HS2, the Global Majority movement seeks to bring together people railing against racial and environmental injustice.

Onamade, Tricks, and Amokwandoh, and young people across the UK, with the support of their communities, will make a significant endeavor to realign the UK’s priorities – away from deeply ingrained colonial and industrial roots that are dragging us into ecological turmoil and hardship for the Global Majority.

Adetola Stephanie Onamade said: “We, as young people of the Global Majority, have witnessed the UK government fail to prepare and protect the most vulnerable in our communities, disproportionately on the frontlines of Covid-19. This is no different to its flippant approach to the international risks of this climate crisis.

The UK, with its wealth dependent on the fossil fuels of the Industrial Revolution, has a historic responsibility to transition its economy in order to not repeat the crimes of colonialism and the erasure of whole cultures, communities, and families.

Instead, the government has prepared for four degrees warming and is complicit in the destruction our friends and family in the Global Majority face daily. We will not allow this trajectory to continue, our family’s lives depend on it. Your Global family’s lives depend on it.”

The legal action is being supported by Plan B, a charity which supports people to take legal action against climate change

Tim Crossland, director of Plan B said: “The rights to life and to family life are the basis of all morality and the foundation of the rule of law. Our Government knows we’re in a climate and ecological emergency and it knows what needs to be done to safeguard our lives. But instead it’s choosing to prioritise its corporate sponsors in the carbon economy.

That’s why Plan B, along with three young people from the diaspora are taking them to court. We don’t agree to be sacrificed and we don’t agree to the sacrifice of our family and friends.”

A pre-legal action letter was sent by Plan B to the UK Gov, on behalf of the campaign. The Government’s reply denied that it has failed to take practical and effective measures in response to the climate crisis. According to the Guardian, the The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has declined to comment on the lawsuit.

To follow this campaign look for @GlobalMajorityVs or #IAMAWITNESS #GlobalMajorityVsUKGov or support the legal action here.