A climate activist group said on Friday it has filed a second lawsuit against the Swedish state, accusing the government of failing to take adequate action to curb climate change, after the country’s Supreme Court rejected a similar case last year.
The group, Aurora, first sued the Swedish state in late 2022. In February 2025, Sweden’s Supreme Court dismissed that case as inadmissible, saying individuals face “very high requirements” when bringing legal claims against the state. The original complaint had been filed by one person and joined by around 300 others as a class action.
Aurora said the new lawsuit has now been submitted to the Stockholm District Court.
“We still have a chance to get out of the planetary crises and build a safe and fair world. But this requires that rich countries that emit as much as Sweden stop breaking the law,” Aurora spokesperson Ida Edling said.
The group argues that Sweden is legally obliged to cut its emissions much faster to meet its fair share of global climate responsibility. According to Aurora, emissions in several sectors would need to reach zero before 2030 — 15 years earlier than Sweden’s current target.
Sweden has pledged to achieve net-zero emissions by 2045, but both the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency and the OECD warned last year that the country is at risk of missing that goal.
Aurora said recent international legal rulings strengthen its case. It cited an April 2024 judgment by the European Court of Human Rights, which ruled that Switzerland was not doing enough to tackle climate change — the first time a country was found in violation by an international court over climate inaction.
The group also pointed to a 2025 advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice, which stated that countries breaching their climate obligations were committing an “unlawful” act. Aurora said these developments show growing legal pressure on governments to meet their climate commitments.
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