The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that Switzerland is in breach of human rights because it is not doing what is necessary to combat global warming. The court found a violation of Article 8.
The members of the KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz association have taken action against Switzerland for a violation of their human rights due to insufficient climate targets and have won a historic victory before the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). The Grand Chamber of the Court ruled in the case «Verein KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz and Others v. Switzerland» (application no. 53600/20) that Switzerland violated the human rights of older women because the country was not doing what was necessary to combat global warming. Specifically, the court found a violation of the right to private and family life (Article 8). The Court also found that the complaint filed by the association, which currently represents over 2'500 women aged 64 and over, had victim status.
Switzerland must improve its current climate targets
This is a major victory for both KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz and Greenpeace Switzerland, not only for all older women, but also for access to justice throughout Europe, as they state in a joint press release. However, the court dismissed the action brought by the individual plaintiffs as inadmissible.
The Court found that Switzerland had failed to meet its obligations under the Convention on Human Rights with regard to climate change. The Swiss authorities had not acted in a timely and appropriate manner to take measures to mitigate the effects of climate change. Furthermore, Switzerland has failed to meet its own inadequate targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. «Switzerland must now improve its current climate targets and define them on a scientific basis», the plaintiffs state.
The right to climate protection was established for the first time under human rights law
For the first time, a transnational court specializing in human rights has directly approved a human rights-based claim for climate protection. The Court's decision confirms that the increasingly frequent and intense heatwaves caused by climate change pose a real and serious threat to the health and private and family life (Article 8 ECHR) of senior citizens, and that there is a link between these negative effects on senior citizens and Swiss climate protection measures. «The Court also made it clear that Switzerland has a duty to protect senior citizens from the consequences of global warming. And it made it clear that Switzerland has breached this duty with its inadequate climate policy», the plaintiffs state.
In order to sufficiently protect human rights, Switzerland must improve its current climate targets. In its ruling, the ECHR also comments on the requirements that must be met in order to remedy the identified gap in climate protection.
Switzerland has violated the right of access to a court
The European Court of Human Rights also ruled that Switzerland had violated the right of the climate senior citizens to access to a court. The Swiss authorities and courts should have carried out a substantive examination of the human rights violations claimed by the senior citizens. In the context of the climate crisis, there is also a duty to review human rights violations that have been committed.
Judgment sets a precedent for all 46 Council of Europe member states
This ruling has far-reaching implications. It sets a precedent for all 46 states of the Council of Europe. All Council of Europe states can now be called upon by their citizens to review and, if necessary, strengthen their climate policy to uphold human rights on the basis of the principles established by the ECHR. The senior citizens are supported by Greenpeace in their fight for climate justice. «This ruling for the protection of human rights and the well-being of all of us is a wake-up call for the Federal Council and Parliament. Now is the time to quickly step up climate protection in Switzerland. The Court's decision is binding for the Federal Council and Parliament. Human rights are the basis of every democracy - we expect politicians of all stripes to abide by the ruling», says Georg Klingler, initiator and project coordinator at Greenpeace Switzerland. And Louise Fournier, a lawyer at Greenpeace International, who supported the KlimaSeniorinnen legal team, adds: «The fight for climate justice doesn't stop in Strasbourg. We are also taking the Climate Seniors' story to the International Court of Justice, where hearings on the climate justice obligations of all governments - including Switzerland - will take place at the beginning of next year.»
