NAGOYA -- The first oral proceedings in a lawsuit filed by a group of young people demanding that 10 thermal power plant operators in Japan reduce their carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions was held at the Nagoya District Court on Oct. 24.

The plaintiffs, 16 people in their teens to 20s across the country, claim that the adverse effects of climate change infringe on the human rights of young people. The operators urged the lawsuit to be dismissed.

According to the lawsuit, the 10 companies are seeking to continue coal-fired power generation until 2050. It points out that this will continue to contribute to global warming and have a dangerous impact. They are demanding the firms achieve a 48% reduction in CO2 emissions by fiscal 2030 and a 65% reduction by fiscal 2035 compared to fiscal 2019 levels, consistent with the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) goal of limiting the average global temperature increase from pre-industrial levels to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

The plaintiffs stressed during the proceedings that judicial intervention is necessary without waiting for fiscal 2030 as continued CO2 emissions beyond the global target violate their rights. One of them, Katrin Miyazawa, 29, a resident of Nagoya, stated, "I want the right for me and my family to live on a safe Earth."

Meanwhile, the 10 firms including JERA Co. Inc., Japan's largest thermal power generation company, countered that the IPCC emission reduction targets do not impose a legal obligation on private companies, and that it has not been established that private companies are subject to judgements on whether they are acting illegally. They added that "it is impossible to determine the possibility of illegal acts existing in fiscal 2030 and fiscal 2035 at this point."

(Japanese original by Hiroko Michishita, Nagoya News Department)