Liebe für die Schweizer KlimaSeniorinnen
The European Court of Human Rights has issued a groundbreaking ruling in a case between a group of Swiss women and their government. It found that Switzerland is in violation of the European convention on human rights for failing in its duties to combat climate change. The court also set out a path for organisations to bring further cases.
The court calls itself “the conscience of Europe” and its rulings apply in 46 member states, which includes all the EU, plus the UK and various other non-EU countries. Its ruling opens up all these states to similar cases in their own national courts – cases that these states are likely to lose.
The court held that the European convention requires states to seek to be carbon neutralwithin three decades, and take adequate interim measures to achieve this. Switzerland was failing to do so.
Those who took the case are the KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz, a group of 2,400 Swiss women over age 64, who argued that because older women are more likely to die in heatwaves Switzerland must take greater action to prevent the planet heating beyond the Paris agreement target of 1.5°C. Heatwaves, the KlimaSeniorinnen argued, have become hotter and more common because of fossil fuels.
This ruling will influence climate action and climate litigation across Europe, as well as influencing cases in other parts of the world too. All states which are parties to the European convention on human rights have the same obligations as Switzerland. Like Switzerland, they will need to aim for carbon neutrality and be able to demonstrate they are taking measures to achieve this, otherwise they may be violating human rights.