The European Court of Human Rights has condemned Switzerland in a ruling in which for the first time it links the protection of human rights to compliance with climate obligations. The association of elderly women who sued Switzerland partially won the appeal. The ECHR, excluding the violation of Article 2 from the sentence, condemned the Swiss State for having violated Article 8 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights, or the right to respect for private and family life, as has not taken sufficient measures to mitigate the effects of climate change.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) decision on Tuesday to condemn Switzerland for its lack of action against global warming “is just the beginning of the climate controversy”, said Greta Thunberg, a Swedish climate activist . “This is just the beginning of climate litigation: around the world, more and more people are taking their governments to court to hold them accountable for their actions. Under no circumstances should we back down, we must fight even harder because this is just the beginning”, declared the young woman in Strasbourg at the end of the historic ECHR hearing.
Today’s is a “full victory”. This was said by one of the lawyers who represented the association of elderly women who sued Switzerland for failing to take measures to mitigate the effects of climate change. “For the climate it doesn’t matter whether an association or individuals win”, adds the lawyer, referring to the ECHR’s decision to accept only the association’s appeal and to instead declare inadmissible that of some women who are members of it.
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