Swiss Women Won The First Ever Climate Case Victory In EU Court of Human Rights

Europe's top human rights court ruled that the Swiss government violated its citizens' human rights by failing to do more to address climate change, setting a precedent for future climate claims.

The European Court of Human Rights' decision in favor of the more than 2,000 Swiss women who brought the case is expected to have an impact on court decisions across Europe and beyond as well as encourage more groups to file climate-related lawsuits against governments.

Human Rights Violation

The Swiss ladies, known as KlimaSeniorinnen and over the age of 64, claimed that their government's inactivity on climate put them at risk of death during heatwaves.

They maintained that their age and gender rendered them especially sensitive to the effects of climate change.

According to the verdict, the court determined that Switzerland violated Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which ensures the "right to respect for private and family life."

Court President Siofra O'Leary stated that the Swiss government did not implement appropriate domestic policies to address climate change.

"It is clear that future generations are likely to bear an increasingly severe burden of the consequences of present failures and omissions to combat climate change," she added.

According to the European Convention on Human Rights, all individuals are legally entitled to "effective protection by state authorities from the serious adverse effects of climate change on their lives, health, well-being, and quality of life."

The court said Switzerland failed to ensure this protection since it did not act swiftly to prevent climate change.

More specifically, the government did not complete its goal to lower its greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent by 2020 compared to 1990 levels; instead, Switzerland reduced emissions by roughly 11 percent between 2013 and 2020.

Furthermore, the European country has not established a national carbon budget, which limits how much carbon dioxide can be emitted by industry, households, and the economy. In their decision, the court left Switzerland to devise its own remedies under the supervision of a committee of government officials from member countries.

Read Also: Lawsuit Warns Politicians That Climate Change Can Cost Them

Climate Lawsuit

The cases before the 17-judge panel in Strasbourg, France, are part of a growing number of climate lawsuits filed by citizens against governments based on human rights legislation.

The Swiss ruling, which cannot be appealed, will have far-reaching international consequences, most notably by establishing a binding legal precedent for all 46 nations that have signed the European Convention on Human Rights.

The result might also have an impact on future rulings by the Strasbourg court, which had put six other climate cases on hold pending Tuesday's decisions.

These include a case against the Norwegian government, which claims it breached human rights by granting fresh licenses for oil and gas exploitation in the Barents Sea after 2035.

"(It) sets a crucial legally binding precedent serving as a blueprint for how to successfully sue your own government over climate failures," Ruth Delbaere, legal campaigns director at global civic movement Avaaz, said of the Swiss case's outcome.

The result might also have an impact on future rulings by the Strasbourg court, which had put six other climate cases on hold pending Tuesday's decisions.

These include a case against the Norwegian government, which claims it breached human rights by granting fresh licenses for oil and gas exploitation in the Barents Sea after 2035.

Courts in Australia, Brazil, Peru, and South Korea are also considering climate-related human rights cases.

Last month, India's Supreme Court ruled that residents have the right to be free of the negative effects of climate change.

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