Siblings Sofia Oliveira, 18, and Andre Oliveira, 15, pose for a picture at the beach in Costa da Caparica, south of Lisbon, Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023. Sofia Oliveira was 12 years old when catastrophic wildfires in central Portugal killed more than 100 people in 2017. She "felt it was now or never to raise our voices" as her country appeared to be in the grip of deadly human-caused climate change.
When the Portuguese group decided in 2017 they would pursue legal action, Sofia wore braces on her teeth, stood taller than her younger brother Andre and was starting seventh grade at school. The braces are long gone and Andre, who is now 15, is taller than her by a few centimetres . The other four members of the Portuguese group -- Catarina, Claudia, Martim and Mariana -- are siblings and cousins who live in the region of Leiria in central Portugal where summer wildfires are common.
Among the specific impacts listed by the young Portuguese are being unable to sleep, concentrate, play outside or exercise during heat waves. One of their schools was closed temporarily when the air became unbreathable due to wildfire smoke. Some of the children have health conditions such as asthma that makes them more vulnerable to heat and air pollution.
Portugal's government, for example, agrees the state of the environment and human rights are connected but insists the government's "actions seek to meet its international obligations in this area" and cannot be faulted.Poland last month filed legal challenges aimed at annulling three of the European Union's main climate change policies.