European Court rules on human rights violated by inaction on climate change

A group of elderly Swiss women has achieved their first victory in a climate change case at the European Court of Human Rights.

The women, mostly in their 70s, said their age and gender made them particularly vulnerable to heatwaves linked to climate change.

The court said Switzerland’s efforts to meet its emissions reduction targets had been woefully inadequate.

This is the first time a powerful court has ruled on global warming.

Swedish activist Greta Thunberg joined activists celebrating at a court in Strasbourg on Tuesday.

“We still can’t really believe it. We keep asking our lawyers, ‘Is that okay?'” Rosemary Weidler Walti, one of the Swiss Women’s leaders, told Reuters “And they say it was the best they could do.” It’s the biggest possible victory. ”

“This is just the beginning of climate change litigation,” Thunberg said. “This means we have to fight harder, because this is just the beginning, because in the climate emergency, everything is at risk.”

The ruling is binding and could affect the laws of 46 European countries, including the UK.

The court ruled that Switzerland “failed to comply with its obligations under the climate change convention” and violated the right to respect for private and family life.

The report also found that the country’s policies to tackle climate change were “significant”, including failing to quantify reductions in greenhouse gases, the gases that warm the Earth’s atmosphere when we burn fossil fuels such as oil, coal and gas. It was also revealed that there was a gap.

Swiss women called KlimaSeniorinnen (Senior Women for Climate Protection) have argued that they cannot risk their health by leaving their homes during the Swiss heatwave.

More than 2,000 women belong to the KlimaSeniorinnen group. They filed this lawsuit nine years ago, calling for stronger protections for women’s health related to climate change.

According to Reuters, Swiss President Viola Amheld said at a press conference that she needed to read the ruling in detail before commenting.

“Sustainability is very important for Switzerland, biodiversity is very important for Switzerland and the net zero target is very important for Switzerland,” he said.

The court dismissed two other lawsuits brought by six Portuguese youths and a former French mayor. They argued that European governments were violating their rights by failing to act quickly on climate change.

Elisabeth Stern, 76, a member of Climaseniolinen, told BBC News that she has seen how Switzerland’s climate changes since she was a child growing up on a farm.

When asked about her approach to the case, she said: “Some of us are made that way. We’re not made to sit in rocking chairs and knit.”

“We know statistically that in 10 years we’ll be gone. So whatever we do now, we’re not doing it for ourselves, we’re doing it for our children, and for our children. We’re doing it for our children,” she added.

Youth activists around the world had hoped that the six young Portuguese men would also win their case against 32 European governments.

Young people aged 12 to 24 claimed they were suffering from climate anxiety, unable to go outside to play or go to school due to increasingly extreme heatwaves and bushfires. .

But the court said the case must first be decided in Portugal.

Sofia Oliveira, 19, told BBC News she was disappointed but said the Swiss women’s win was “a win for us and a win for everyone”.

A third lawsuit by a former French mayor claims that the French government’s inaction puts the town at risk of sinking into the North Sea.

The complaint was dismissed because he no longer lives in France and the claimant must prove that he is the direct victim of human rights violations.

Decisions taken by the European Court of Human Rights affect the laws of 46 member states.

Estelle Dehon KC, UK Cornerstone barrister, said: “This judgment deals in a persuasive way with the difficult issues that plague the UK courts.”

He told BBC News: “Courts cannot rule on legal obligations regarding climate change because it is a global phenomenon, or because one country’s actions are just a ‘drop in the ocean.’ “We completely reject the argument that it cannot be done.”

Governments around the world have signed on to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

But scientists and activists say progress is too slow and the world is not on track to meet the key goal of limiting temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Switzerland’s largest political party, the right-wing Swiss People’s Party, condemned the ruling. call it a scandal and threatened to withdraw from the Council of Europe.

That is unlikely to happen as they only have two of the seven seats in the government.

The Socialist Party welcomed the court’s decision and said the government should implement it as soon as possible, according to Swiss broadcaster RTS.

Swiss politicians reacted to the ruling

https://x.com/UDCch/status/1777707449501310985