Japanese govt sued over 'unconstitutional' climate inaction

TOKYO, December 21 ------ Hundreds of people across Japan sued the central government, seeking damages for its “unconstitutional” inaction on climate change, the East Asian country’s first such litigation.

The landmark lawsuit criticizes Japan’s “grossly inadequate” fight against the climate crisis, saying it jeopardizes the health and livelihoods of the approximately 450 plaintiffs. “We just submitted our complaint and evidence to the court, and our lawsuit has been officially accepted,” lead lawyer Akihiro Shima told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Plaintiff Kiichi Akiyama, a construction worker, said relentless heat had forced his team to work slower, causing “huge losses” to his business. There have also been cases where “people collapse out in the field, or have dropped dead after they return home,” the 57-year-old said.

In the past, five climate-related lawsuits have been filed with Japanese courts, including against coal-fired power plants, said Kyoto University assistant professor Masako Ichihara, who has followed such cases in the country. But Ichihara and lawyers working on the suit say this is the first compensation claim against the state over climate change. “The defendant’s climate change measures are grossly inadequate, and as a result, the plaintiffs’ rights to a peaceful life and to the enjoyment of a stable climate are being violated,” said the complaint summary, which the AFP obtained ahead of the filing.

This year, Japan sweltered through its hottest summer since records began in 1898, and the plaintiffs argue that such heat waves cause economic losses, ruin crops and put many at risk of crippling heatstroke. Akiyama, who frequently works outside in the searing heat, said it now took his team triple the estimated time to finish their projects. “I can barely dig with a shovel for 10 minutes without sitting down to rest,” he said. “We wouldn’t be in this terrible situation if the government had taken more initiative in implementing policies,” he added.

Source: manilatimes.net