The ECHR found the Swiss authorities guilty of insufficient protection of pensioners from the heat
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The movement of Swiss pensioner activists KlimaSeniorinnen has won a victory over the Swiss authorities in the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). Court took sides more than 2 thousand Swiss women aged 64 and over who claimed that the government had failed to protect them from climate change, thereby putting their lives at risk. According to the plaintiffs, the heat is especially dangerous for older women.
The Grand Chamber of the ECHR almost unanimously (16 votes to 1) came to the conclusion that the Swiss authorities did not fulfill their obligations to combat climate change, as provided for in Art. 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. It provides for the right of citizens of signatory countries to effective protection by government authorities from the serious adverse effects of climate change on life, health, well-being and quality of life.
As noted in the court decision, the Swiss authorities made serious gaps in the process of creating the appropriate national regulatory framework. They failed to quantify, through budget or any other means, the maximum permissible amount of harmful emissions in the country. Moreover, the resolution notes, Switzerland was unable to achieve previous CO2 emissions reduction targets.
The Swiss government will not be able to appeal this decision of the ECHR. Now the country’s authorities are obliged to take measures to eliminate the shortcomings. If this does not happen, citizens will be able to file lawsuits in local courts, and they, based on the ECHR decision, will be able to issue fines to the authorities for insufficient measures to protect the population.
In addition, the case of Swiss pensioners becomes a legal precedent on the basis of which other lawsuits filed by citizens and organizations against national governments in the fight against climate change will be considered. In particular, the ECtHR itself postponed decisions on six other similar cases until the case of KlimaSeniorinnen v. Switzerland was considered.
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