Climate activists have been successful with a lawsuit calling for stricter measures against climate change before the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). The judges in Strasbourg decided that Switzerland’s lack of climate protection had violated the human rights of the senior citizens who were suing. The ruling could set a precedent for further climate lawsuits.
The group of older women initiated by Greenpeace had complained that their right to life and to private and family life were being violated by a lack of climate protection measures. The health of older women is particularly at risk from ever stronger and longer heat waves. The seniors wanted to ensure that the Alpine republic had to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions more.
Their lawsuit is considered the first climate lawsuit ever to be heard by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). The ECHR is part of the Council of Europe and is responsible for compliance with the Human Rights Convention. The EU states, but also other large countries such as Turkey and Great Britain, sit in the Council of Europe.
Several young people from Portugal and a French mayor also filed suit. In these cases, the verdicts are still pending.
In their lawsuit, the six young plaintiffs from Portugal accused 32 European countries – including Germany – of exacerbating the climate crisis and thereby endangering the future of their generation. If there are more heat waves, forest fires, storms or floods, apartments are no longer safe and physical and mental health would be impaired. The plaintiffs argue that they are being discriminated against as a young generation because the effects of global warming are likely to become more pronounced in the future.
Strasbourg has rarely seen a trial as large as that of the six Portuguese teenagers: 80 lawyers were represented at the hearing on the part of the reprimanded states alone. Global media interest and major expressions of solidarity for the climate activists are now expected. Swedish activist Greta Thunberg is also said to be there.
In the third case, a French ex-mayor complained that France had not taken sufficient measures to prevent climate change. His hometown of Grande-Synthe on the North Sea is at increased risk of flooding from 2030 due to rising sea levels.