Historic ruling and half victory for climate activists in Strasbourg. For the first time in its history, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) issued a verdict on climate change and condemned a country, Switzerland, for failing to protect its citizens effectively counteracting the negative effects of global warming.
The judges ruled in favor of the appellantsSwiss association «Klimaseniorinnen», or «Swiss grandmothers» given the average age over 70, who accused the Swiss government of violating their human rights by not working quickly enough to address Earth’s “fever.” In particular, the ECtHR established the violation of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, concerning «respect for private and family life»but excluded the violation of article 2, or “the right to life”.
The ruling is binding and marks an important legal precedent, which could henceforth give direction, also from a legislative point of view, to the 46 member countries of the Council of Europe. However, it is also half a defeat for climate activists, especially young people. The Court in fact rejected how the most important appeal is “inadmissible”., that of the six Portuguese boys who had denounced 32 European countries for the ineffectiveness of their policies against climate change. The appeal of the French MEP Careme was also rejected.
«The ECHR decision is only the beginning of the climate controversy», ensures Greta Thunberg, who rushed to Strasbourg to support other climate activists. «This is just the beginning of climate litigation: around the world, more and more people are taking their governments to court. Under no circumstances should we back down, we must fight even harder because this is just the beginning of a new fight.”
On the day the European meteorological service Copenicus certifies that March just ended was the tenth consecutive warmest month ever, a new phase therefore opens in the fight against climate warming. That of the courts. Gerry Liston, senior lawyer, Global Legal Action Network, who supported the appeals added: «Today’s sentences against Switzerland set a historic precedent that applies to all European countries. This means that all European countries must urgently review their targets so that they are science-based and aligned to 1.5 degrees. This is a huge victory for all generations.”
Otherwise, they risk new lawsuits.
The young Portuguese were disappointed. “I was really hoping that we would win against all the countries, so obviously I’m disappointed that that didn’t happen. But the most important thing is that, in the case of Swiss women, the Court said governments must reduce their emissions more to protect human rights. So their victory is a victory for us too and a victory for everyone!”, commented nineteen-year-old Sofia Oliveira.
This was echoed by twenty-one year old Martim Duarte Agostinho, hence the name of the «case» submitted to the court for examination: «Even if the sentence did not go in our favor and we are disappointed, today I am proud of what we have achieved because the judges have recognized that climate change is a threat existential for humanity and an intergenerational challenge. Today we were in court with the Swiss women, demonstrating how powerful working together can be.”
Concludes Ruth Delbaere, Avaaz, director of legal campaigns: «The Swiss ruling sets a crucial legally binding precedent that serves as a model for successfully suing your own government for climate failures. The indomitable older women have therefore opened a new chapter in climate litigationshowing how ordinary citizens can force climate action on reluctant governments.”
