By Michael Botti, Year 12
In a landmark court decision that sent shockwaves throughout Europe, Europe’s top human rights court (European Court of Human Rights) in Strasbourg ruled this past Tuesday that the Swiss government had violated the rights of its citizens by failing to do enough to mitigate global warming. More than 2,000 Swiss women over the age of 64 are part of the plaintiff group Verein KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz (the Swiss Climate Senior Women) and argued that the Swiss government’s inaction put them at risk of dying during heatwaves. They argued their age and gender made them particularly vulnerable and demanded that Switzerland redesign its climate policy so that it limits global warming to 1.5°C.
Some of the key components from the ruling regarding Switzerland’s obligation to mitigate climate change include: a target timeline for achieving carbon neutrality and an overall carbon budget for the same timeline, which is in line with national and international climate change commitments; intermediate greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets and pathways that are capable of meeting the overall national goals within the relevant time frames; evidence of how Switzerland has updated and implemented these targets and pathways in good time, with due diligence and in an appropriate and consistent manner, based on the best available science; and procedural safeguards to ensure access to information and public participation when developing and implementing climate measures.
Another aspect of this landmark legal decision is the view that Switzerland underestimated elderly women, who were the plaintiffs in the climate case. Some of the plaintiff’s point to lingering attitudes about older women in Switzerland, where women were only granted the right to vote in 1971, which is much later than almost all other European countries. The Court’s decision was also a vindication for the rights and voices of women in Switzerland.
The rate of climate warming in Switzerland is more than twice the global rate and Swiss glaciers are melting rapidly. Summers are getting warmer, drier, and longer, with more extreme heat days and heatwaves. According to a 2023 study led by the University of Bern, global warming caused 60% of Swiss heat deaths in the summer of 2022. There were three times more heat-related deaths in the summer of 2022 then the average from 2009 to 2017. The same study also showed that older women had the highest mortality rate amongst all the subgroups. The Swiss Federal government proposed a plan to make deeper emissions cuts in 2021, but Swiss voters narrowly voted it down because it was deemed as too burdensome.
Switzerland ratified the Paris Climate Agreements in 2017. In addition, by 2050, Switzerland aims to emit no more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than can be captured and stored in natural and technological sinks – a “net-zero” target. The Swiss government states that to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, a substantial reduction in emissions from the building sector, transport and industry is necessary.
The European Court’s historic judgment marks a pivotal moment in the intersection of human rights and environmental law. The ruling underscores the urgent need for countries to take effective and measurable actions against climate change, aligning with their obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights. European governments will now revise their legal and policy frameworks to align with the Court directives on climate action. Corporations will face greater vigilance in enforcing laws and stiffer fines for non-compliance. This landmark decision, which is unappealable and binding in all 46 countries that are members of the Council of Europe, will certainly open the field for further climate litigation.
Let’s hope that this landmark court decision steels the resolve of governments, corporations, and citizens to move forward with significant focus and energy going towards actually achieving climate goals and dramatic CO2 reduction, rather than drawn out and costly court battles.
