European court rules Switzerland climate inaction violated human rights

Tuesday’s hearings on the trio of cases at the European Court of Human Rights marked the first time an international court has ruled on such cases of climate change inaction, as advocacy groups and lawmakers around the world try to spur governments to take stronger action on climate change through legislation.

The court sided with the Swiss group Senior Women for Climate Protection, otherwise known as KlimaSeniorinnen, which comprises more than 2,000 senior women. Their complaint said the government’s failure to mitigate the effects of global warming harmed their living conditions and health.

The ruling said Switzerland has failed to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions fast enough to meet its own targets. The European Convention on Human Rights “encompasses a right to effective protection” by national authorities “from the serious adverse effects of climate change on lives, health, well-being and quality of life,” it said.

The group of women age 65 and over said Tuesday’s ruling confirmed that “Switzerland is doing too little to protect its population from the consequences of the climate crisis.”

Two other casesaccusing European governments of not doing enough to prevent climate change — one by a former mayor in northern France and another by group of young people in Portugal — were tossed out as inadmissible.

Lawyers had hoped for a decisive win for all three cases in the Strasbourg court that could ripple across the continent and set a legal precedent that governments must commit to climate change pledges.

In the high-profile case by six young people in Portugal born between 1999 and 2012, the complaint argued that existing and future effects of climate change, including heat waves and wildfires, exposed them to harm. They blamed Portugal and 32 other countries for failing to meet targets to reduce emissions set under the 2015 Paris climate accord.

“I really hoped that we would win against all the countries, so obviously I’m disappointed that this didn’t happen,” said Sofia Oliveira, one of the Portuguese nationals. “But the most important thing is that the court has said in the Swiss women’s case that governments must cut their emissions more to protect human rights. So, their win is a win for us, too, and a win for everyone!”