Sacchi et al. v Argentina et al.

A group of 16 children from various nations filed a communication to the Committee on the Rights of the Child, alleging that Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany, and Turkey violated the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) by failing to prevent and mitigate climate change. While the Committee recognised the 'extraterritorial application of human rights obligations' and the 'victim status of the authors', it ultimately deemed the claim inadmissible. The decision rested on the 'failure to exhaust domestic remedies', as the claimants had not initiated internal legal procedures in the defendant states before approaching the Committee.

• The Committee on the Rights of the Child recognised that states have extraterritorial jurisdiction when transboundary environmental damage affects rights established by an international treaty, meaning states can be held responsible for greenhouse gas emissions within their territory that cause global harm.
• The Committee confirmed the victim status of the 16 children who filed the complaint, acknowledging a reasonable connection between the states' failure to prevent the climate crisis and the harm experienced by the children.
• The claim was ruled inadmissible because the authors did not exhaust domestic remedies in the defendant states, failing to initiate any internal procedures or contact competent authorities before filing the communication.
• The claimants argued that the defendant states violated the UNCRC by failing to cooperate internationally, apply the precautionary principle, guarantee intergenerational equity, and prevent human rights violations caused by climate change.
• The defendant states provided various arguments against admissibility, including Germany's claim that it only has jurisdiction over German nationals and France's assertion that climate change is an effect of global economic activities rather than pollution.

APA

Contributor, C. (2025). Sacchi et al. v Argentina et al. ClimaTalk. https://climatalk.org/2025/05/14/sacchi-et-al-v-argentina-et-al/

Chicago

Contributor, ClimaTalk. Sacchi et al. v Argentina et al. ClimaTalk, 2025. https://climatalk.org/2025/05/14/sacchi-et-al-v-argentina-et-al/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Contributor |first1=ClimaTalk |title=Sacchi et al. v Argentina et al. |publisher=ClimaTalk |date=14 May 2025 |url=https://climatalk.org/2025/05/14/sacchi-et-al-v-argentina-et-al/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{contributor2025sacchi, author = {Contributor, ClimaTalk}, title = {{Sacchi et al. v Argentina et al.}}, institution = {ClimaTalk}, year = {2025}, month = may, url = {https://climatalk.org/2025/05/14/sacchi-et-al-v-argentina-et-al/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }