On November 25, 2022, a group of over 600 young people born between 1996 and 2015 filed a class action lawsuit against the Swedish state, arguing that Sweden’s action on mitigating climate change is inadequate and thus in violation of their rights under the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR). The complaint was lodged after two letters were sent to the Swedish state, one in May 2022 (to which the sitting Minister for Climate and Environment replied) and one in November 2022 following a change in government in October 2022 (to which there was no reply), where the plaintiffs outlined their requests. Specifically, the plaintiffs argue that the risk of the negative impacts of climate change constitutes interferences with their rights to life, private and family life, and non-discrimination under articles 2, 8, and 14 of the ECHR, respectively, as well as the right to property under article 1, protocol 1 of the ECHR. These interferences are argued to constitute rights violations since Sweden is failing to do its fair share to reduce the greenhouse gas (GHG) concentration in the atmosphere to keep warming below 1.5°C as compared to pre-industrial levels, by not undertaking immediate and adequate procedural and substantive measures to continuously reduce GHG emissions and enhance GHG sinks, thus failing to adequately protect the plaintiffs from adverse impacts of anthropogenic climate change. In particular, the plaintiffs argue that climate change impacts in the period leading up to 2100 will be serious, especially in relation to impacts on human health, and that they are expected to be particularly affected by these impacts because expect to be alive at that time, based on the average life span in Sweden. In terms of specific impacts, the plaintiffs cite longer and more intense heatwaves causing both mild and severe health effects, shorter and more temperate winters leading to the increased spread of diseases through ticks, and changes to precipitation patterns leading to health impacts stemming from flooding, among others. 

The plaintiffs question both procedural and substantive aspects of Sweden’s mitigation policy. With respect to the former, the plaintiffs argue that the state has failed to adopt sufficient and adequate procedural measures by not investigating, in line with the best available science: (i) the extent of Sweden’s fair share to reduce emissions continuously, (ii) how the fair share is to be achieved in a manner that is economically and technically feasible, and (iii) how Sweden can contribute to reduce consumption-based GHG emissions abroad, GHG emissions caused by Swedish legal persons abroad, and GHG emissions from LULUCF, as well as protecting and restoring natural carbon sinks like forests, wetlands, and oceans. The emissions in question for points (i) and (ii) are those from industrial processes, product use, fossil fuel-based energy, agriculture, and waste (IPEJA emissions).

As regards their substantive claims, the plaintiffs argue that the state has failed to take sufficient and adequate measures to: (i) continuously implement Sweden’s fair share, based on the investigations mentioned above, (ii) reduce IPEJA emissions between 2019 and 2030 by at least 9.4 or 6.5 million tons CO2-eq annually, primarily national emissions insofar as possible, and to ensure safe atmospheric GHG concentrations after 2030 under any circumstances, (iii) reduce national IPEJA emissions between 2019 and 2030 by at least 3.1 or 2.2 million tons CO2-eq annually and to ensure safe atmospheric GHG concentrations after 2030 under any circumstances, (iv) secure that GHG emissions reductions within one category is not achieved through increasing emissions in another category under any circumstances, and (v) continuously compensate annual emissions that exceed the permissible emissions, by reducing the net emissions by an equivalent amount in the following period under any circumstances, starting in 2019.

Ultimately, based on these arguments, the plaintiffs ask the court to order the state to implement its fair share of GHG emissions reductions to keep global warming below 1.5°C, by adopting sufficient and adequate procedural and substantive measures to ensure that emissions are continuously reduced and that GHG are absorbed through natural carbon sinks, in order to limit the risk of negative impacts of climate change on them. The procedural and substantive measures requested mirror the complaints listed above.

On February 19, 2025, the Swedish Supreme Court rejected Aurora. The Court found that the applicants had not satisfied the victim status test required by the ECtHR in Verein KlimaSeniorinnen and others v Switzerland. In addition, it considered that the nature of the application was incompatible with the role of courts in light of the separation of powers specified by the Swedish constitution (‘Regeringsformen’). It held that the only type of claim that could be heard by the Swedish courts was one establishing a violation of article 8, provided that it did not explicitly or implicitly call for legislative change. One of the judges, Justice Dag Mattsson, dissented, arguing that even engagement with that type of claim falls beyond the judicial mandate as set by the Swedish constitution.

On April 14, 2025, a request was submitted to transfer the claim from the individual applicants to the association Aurora, which the state opposed. On June 30, 2025, the applicants withdrew their request.

Anton Foley and others v Sweden (Aurora Case)

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Anton Foley and others v Sweden (Aurora Case) - decision

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An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Justice is the ethical and political framework that addresses fairness, including issues of responsibility, rights, and structural inequity.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

A ban is a legal action that prevents the sale or supply of a product or service, or that recalls a product from the market. Examples are bans on SF6, greenwashing, fossil fuel advertisement or single-use plastics.

A target to reduce the prevalence of a greenhouse gas over a specific time frame

A commitment to balance GHG emissions with removal by a certain point in time, effectively reducing the net emissions to zero

A long-lived, colourless gas, chiefly emitted from fossil fuel combustion, deforestation and cement production.

Extreme weather refers to events where a weather variable exceeds (or falls below) a threshold. Meaning it is significantly different from the average or usual weather pattern.

A drought is an extended period of unusually dry weather marked by a significant and sustained lack of precipitation, falling below a specific threshold over a large area for more than a month

Terrestrial means "of the earth" and relates to the risks to ecological system that includes all living organisms and their interactions within land-based environments, such as forests, grasslands, and deserts.

People whose health, both mental and physical, makes them more vulnerable to the effects of climate change

Any compulsory, unrequited payment to the government levied on corporations or individuals. This can be for environmental reasons, such as introducing a Carbon tax to set a price that emitters must pay for the greenhouse gases they emit.

Activities that relate to the production of goods and services from forests.

Slow onset events evolve gradually from incremental changes over many years or from increased frequency or intensity of recurring events. As defined in the Cancun Adaptation Framework (2010), slow onset events include risks and impacts from rising temperatures, desertification, biodiversity loss, land and forest degradation, glacial retreat, ocean acidification, sea level rise, and salinization.

Anton Foley and others v Sweden (Aurora Case) - decision

Target

Policy instrument

Risk

Impacted group

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector

Adaptation/resilience