On Sept. 23, 2025, fifteen young people who were formerly plaintiffs in Juliana v. United States, together with Our Children’s Trust and the support of Dignity Rights Advocates, submitted a petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). The petition alleged that for over five decades the U.S. government has knowingly pursued energy policies and practices that have substantially contributed to greenhouse gas emissions, thereby causing dangerous climate change and depriving petitioners of rights guaranteed under the American Declaration on the Rights and Duties of Man, international human rights law, and customary international law.

The petitioners argued that the U.S. government’s actions and omissions violated their rights to life (Art. I), personal security and integrity (Art. I), equality before the law (Art. II), residence and movement (Art. VIII), preservation of health and well-being (Art. XI), benefits of culture (Art. XIII), work and fair remuneration (Art. XIV), family protection (Art. VI), and property (Art. XXIII). They emphasized that the harms stem both from the federal government’s systemic support for fossil fuel development and its failure to implement effective mitigation measures, despite decades of scientific evidence of climate risk.

The petition further highlighted how the U.S. Department of Justice’s sustained efforts to block Juliana v. United States from proceeding to trial, along with federal appellate court rulings denying redress, violated the petitioners’ procedural rights, including access to justice and an effective remedy. The petitioners contended that these denials compounded the substantive harms they face from climate change.

Relying on recent advisory opinions from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the International Court of Justice, the petition applied those rulings to the circumstances of Juliana v. United States. It stressed that States have binding obligations to guarantee human rights, prevent significant harm to the global climate system, and mitigate greenhouse gas pollution.

The submission builds on earlier initiatives that first framed climate change as a human rights issue before the IACHR, such as the 2005 Inuit petition, and follows a decade of litigation in Juliana v. United States. The case remains pending before the IACHR.

Juliana Youth v. United States of America (Jóvenes ex Juliana v. Estados Unidos de América)

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Juliana Youth v. United States of America (Jóvenes ex Juliana v. Estados Unidos de América) - petition

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