The cost of climate inaction: Landmark ruling presses European governments to act
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Play - 20:15
"To choose not to choose is still to act," as French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre once said. Judges at Europe's highest jurisdiction agree. Their non-binding ruling against Switzerland over its failure to formulate a concrete climate action plan resonates as scientists confirm that the planet is coming off the hottest month of March on record.
We ask about the case, the two others thrown out on technicalities, and that pressing choice that governments must make between the urgent and the important.
The urgent is saving livelihoods – like those of farmers and small homeowners if they have to front the cost of new environmental norms. The important is reducing carbon emissions that are accelerating global warming.
In the run-up to European elections, politicians have prioritised pocketbooks, backtracking on previous pledges in what some see as a populist backlash against the EU's Green Deal. Beyond electoral cycles and symbolic rulings, where is the path to consensus and the safeguarding of our children's future?
Produced by Alessandro Xenos, Rebecca Gnignati and Guillaume Gougeon.
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