First Climate Case Victory
A group of Swiss female climate activists, mostly in their seventies, have won the first ever climate case victory in the European Court of Human Rights.
In a landmark decision, the court has ruled that weak government climate policies violate citizens’ fundamental human rights. The court said Switzerland’s efforts to meet its emission reduction targets had been woefully inadequate.
It is the first time the powerful court has ruled on global warming.
We can’t believe it
“We still can’t really believe it. We keep asking our lawyers, ‘is that right?’ Rosemarie Wydler-Walti, one of the leaders of the Swiss women, told Reuters news agency. “And they tell us it’s the most you could have had. The biggest victory possible.”
Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg joined activists celebrating at the court in Strasbourg on Tuesday.
“This is only the beginning of climate litigation,” said Ms Thunberg. “This means that we have to fight even more, since this is only the beginning. Because in a climate emergency, everything is at stake.”
The ruling is binding and can trickle down to influence the law in 46 countries in Europe including the UK.
Switzerland failed to comply with its duties
The Court ruled that Switzerland had “failed to comply with its duties under the Convention concerning climate change” and that it had violated the right to respect for private and family life.
It also found that “there had been critical gaps” in the country’s policies to tackle climate change including failing to quantify reductions in greenhouse gases – those gases that warm Earth’s atmosphere when we burn fossil fuels like oil, coal and gas.