Six young people from areas in Portugal ravaged by wildfires and heatwaves will take 32 European governments to court over what they see as climate inaction, arguing countries' failure to cut emissions fast enough is a violation of their human rights.

The case — filed in September 2020 against the 27 EU member states as well Britain, Switzerland, Norway, Russia and Turkey — is the largest-ever climate case to be heard by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg.

With the support of the British-based Global Legal Action Network (GLAN), the Portuguese applicants, aged between 11 and 24, are seeking a legally-binding decision that would force states to act.