Top Europe rights court condemns Switzerland in landmark climate ruling
Members of Swiss association Senior Women for Climate Protection react after the announcement of decisions after a hearing of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to decide in three separate cases if states are doing enough in the face of global warming in rulings that could force them to do more, in Strasbourg, eastern France, on April 9, 2024. Europe's top rights court on April 9 said Switzerland was not doing enough to tackle climate change, in the first such ruling on the responsibility of states in curbing global warming. The ECHR however threw out two other cases against European states on procedural grounds.(Photo by Frederick FLORIN / AFP)
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Europe's top rights court ruled on Tuesday that Switzerland was not doing enough to tackle climate change, in its first such ruling against a state on the subject.
The European Court of Human Rights issued its decision after a Swiss association of older women concerned about the consequences of global warming argued that the Swiss authorities were not taking enough action to mitigate climate change.
It found that the Swiss state had violated Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which guarantees the "right to respect for private and family life", according to the ruling seen by AFP.
The court however threw out two other cases also concerning government policies on climate change on procedural grounds.
It dismissed a petition from six Portuguese people, aged 12 to 24, against 32 states including their own as the case had not exhausted all remedies at the national level.
In a third case, the court rejected a claim from a former French mayor that the inaction of the French state posed the risk of his town being submerged under the North Sea.
The court found that he was not a victim in the case as he had moved to Brussels.
© Agence France-Presse
