2,000 senior women win “biggest victory possible” in landmark climate case

More than 2,000 older Swiss women have won a landmark European case proving that government climate inaction violates human rights. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled Tuesday that Switzerland had not acted urgently to achieve climate targets, leading victims, who are mostly in their 70s, to suffer physically and emotionally while potentially placed at risk of dying. The women, part of a group called KlimaSeniorinnen (Senior Women for Climate Protection), filed the lawsuit nine years ago. They presented medical documents and scientific evidence that older women are more vulnerable to climate impacts, arguing that "their health and daily routines were affected" by Swiss heatwaves connected to climate change. One woman who had to regularly measure her blood pressure and refrain from activities when temperatures were too high told the court that "the thermometer determined the way she led her life." Another woman described how isolated she felt when "excessive heat" with "highly probable" links to climate change "exacerbated her asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease." "Evidence showed that the life and health of older women were more severely impacted by periods of heatwaves than the rest of the population," ECHR's ruling said, noting that during recent warmest summers on record "nearly 90 percent of heat-related deaths had occurred in older women, almost all of whom were older than 75." The ECHR ruled that the Swiss government had violated these women's rights to respect for private and family life under the European Convention on Human Rights by failing to comply with climate duties or to address "critical gaps" in climate policies. Throughout the proceedings, Swiss authorities acknowledged missing climate targets, including by not properly supervising greenhouse gas emissions in sectors like building and transport, and not regulating emissions in other sectors such as agricultural and financial. "There was a long history of failed climate action," ECHR's ruling said. "This included a failure to quantify, through a carbon budget or otherwise, national greenhouse gas emissions limitations," ECHR President Siofra O'Leary said, noting in a Reuters report that Switzerland "had previously failed to meet its past greenhouse gas emission reduction targets by failing to act in good time and in an appropriate and consistent manner." As a result of the ECHR ruling, Switzerland may be forced to escalate efforts to reduce fossil fuel consumption, CNN reported. Swiss President Viola Amherd told a news conference attended by Reuters that she would be reviewing the judgment, seemingly defending the country's current climate actions by saying that "sustainability is very important to Switzerland, biodiversity is very important to Switzerland, the net zero target is very important to Switzerland." The court's judgment is binding, cannot be appealed, and could "influence the law in 46 countries in Europe including the UK," the BBC reported. Experts told CNN that the case could also influence other international courts, potentially opening the floodgates to more climate litigation globally.

Swiss women shocked by victory

Rosemarie Wydler-Walti, KlimaSeniorinnen's co-president, confirmed that her group was shocked by their unprecedented victory, the BBC reported. "We still can't really believe it," Wydler-Walti said. "We keep asking our lawyers, 'is that right?' And they tell us it's the most you could have had. The biggest victory possible." Another KlimaSeniorinnen member, Elisabeth Stern, celebrated the victory for protecting future generations. "We know statistically that in 10 years we will be gone," Stern said. "So whatever we do now, we are not doing for ourselves, but for the sake of our children and our children's children." For Stern, there was little choice but to take their climate fight to court. "Some of us," Stern said, "are not made to sit in a rocking chair and knit." The ECHR dismissed two other climate cases Tuesday, ruling that a case raised by Portuguese youths must be decided first in Portugal and dismissing a case from a former French mayor because he no longer lived in France. But 19-year-old Portuguese claimant Sofia Oliveira told BBC that a win for KlimaSeniorinnen was seen as "a win for us too and a win for everyone." Another Portuguese claimant, Catarina dos Santos Mota, told CNN that she wants "to see the win against Switzerland being used against all European countries and in national courts.” In a partly dissenting opinion, ECHR judge Tim Eicke warned that there could be a downside to the ECHR ruling creating "a new right" to “effective protection by the State authorities from serious adverse effects on their life, health, well-being, and quality of life arising from the harmful effects and risks caused by climate change.” Climate litigation attempting to force states to act could end up bogging down government, Eicke said, proving "an unwelcome and unnecessary distraction for the national and international authorities, both executive and legislative, in that it detracts attention from the ongoing legislative and negotiating efforts being undertaken as we speak to address the—generally accepted—need for urgent action." But as scientists warn that governments lacking motivation to prevent climate impacts is the major limiting factor to progress, climate activists like Greta Thunberg do not seem to agree that climate litigation is distracting from government action. Thunberg told reporters outside the ECHR court that “this is only the beginning of climate litigation.” “All over the world more and more people are taking their government to court, holding them responsible for their actions,” Thunberg said, confirming that “we are going to use every tool in the toolbox that we have.” While similar cases contending that climate inaction violates human rights are currently pending in the International Court of Justice and the Inter American Court of Human Rights, the Swiss senior women are proud of their win today, their lawyer, Cordelia Baehr, said in a Reuters report. "After nine years of intensive work, the senior women have finally got their due," Baehr said. "This is an indescribable moment."