The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has made a landmark ruling that Switzerland violated the human rights of a group of over 2,000 older Swiss women by failing to adequately reduce its national greenhouse gas emissions. The women successfully argued that their rights to privacy and family life were being breached due to their increased vulnerability to the health impacts of heatwaves. Nikki Reisch, climate and energy director at the Center for International Environmental Law, said that “What the court did quite clearly was to say that, while the Swiss government retains some discretion to define the precise measures it will take, that discretion is not unfettered; it has to be within the bounds of what science shows is clearly required to prevent further harm.” Experts believe the latest ruling opens the floodgates for future litigation around Europe. Although the judgment applies directly only to Switzerland, it has clear implications for other states within the Council of Europe that have not set ambitious emission reduction targets or put in place good climate governance. The ruling will make international waves if it is cited in forthcoming advisory opinions on climate change from the international court of justice and the inter-American court of human rights.

Source: The Guardian