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Europe, the fastest-warming continent: accelerating climate action with young people

Other author
Parliamentary Assembly
Session
2026 - Fourth part-session

Summary

The Parliamentary Assembly calls on the Committee of Ministers to step up climate action with a clear focus on young people and future generations. Building on its accompanying Resolution 2679 (2026) and welcoming the Committee of Ministers' Recommendation CM/Rec(2024)6 on young people and climate action, the Assembly stresses that every delay in addressing climate change places a growing and unfair burden on younger and future generations — a concern echoed by the European Court of Human Rights in its landmark *Verein KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz and Others v. Switzerland* ruling. To accelerate progress, the Assembly urges the Committee of Ministers to conduct a mid-term review of CM/Rec(2024)6 with input from youth organisations, integrate intergenerational justice into the Council of Europe's Environment Strategy (2025–2030), ensure Switzerland's exemplary execution of the Court's judgment through binding carbon targets, and begin drafting a legally binding instrument recognising the right to a healthy environment. It also calls for greater transparency in the Council of Europe's own carbon footprint reduction efforts and for climate resilience policies to fully account for the rights and needs of young people, including in the context of armed conflict and environmental destruction.

Voting results

74 in favor 7 against 4 abstentions