SIX young activists took 32 nations to the European Court of Human Rights today over their lack of action to protect people from climate change.

The case is just the latest, but biggest, instance of activists taking governments to court to push for action.

Lawyers representing the claimants aged between 11 and 24 from Portugal said the nations they are suing have failed to adequately address human-caused warming and therefore violated some of the group’s fundamental rights.

Forest fires have ravaged Portugal each year since 2017.

The legal teams for the 32 countries, which include Britain, Switzerland, Norway Russia and Turkey, have questioned the admissibility of the case, as well as the claim that the plaintiffs are victims of climate change harm.

Pleading on behalf of the young people, Alison Macdonald told the judges about the urgency in tackling the “biggest crisis that Europe and the world” have perhaps faced, arguing the nations accused should play a bigger role in helping control planet-warming emissions.

“It cannot be within a state’s discretion whether or not to act to prevent catastrophic climate destruction,” she said.

There have been successful climate cases at national and regional levels, such as a similar case won by young environmentalists in the United States.

But the activists’ legal team said that because national jurisdictions did not go far enough to protect their rights, the group felt compelled to take the matter to the Strasbourg-based court.

The group is arguing that their rights to life, privacy and family life, and freedom from discrimination are being violated, and hope the court will force governments to accelerate their climate efforts.

“We’ve put forward evidence to show that it’s within the power of states to do vastly more to adjust their emissions, and they are choosing not to do it,” lawyer Gerry Liston said.

The court’s rulings are legally binding on member countries, and failure to comply makes authorities liable for hefty fines.

None of the six activists are seeking financial compensation.

Claimant Claudia Duarte Agostinho, 24, said she still gets scared when she hears helicopters flying above having experienced the 2017 blaze, which killed more than 100 people.

“The wildfires made me really anxious about what sort of future I would have,” she told the BBC.

The court’s decision is not expected for several months.