Top European court hands Swiss women victory in landmark climate ruling

Verdict will have ripple effect in Europe and beyond, likely setting precedent for how courts deal with climate cases.

Europe’s top rights court has ruled in favour of a group of elderly Swiss women who argued that their government’s efforts to combat climate change were inadequate and put them at greater risk of death from heatwaves.

On Tuesday, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that Switzerland was not doing enough to tackle climate change and that weak policies violate fundamental human rights, in its first such verdict against a state on the issue.

But it was a partial victory for environmental activists as two other cases, from Portugal and France, were declared inadmissible on procedural grounds.

The case was brought by about 2,500 women, aged 73 on average, of the Senior Women for Climate Protection. Four of its members complained about the “failings of the Swiss authorities” in terms of climate protection that could “seriously harm” their health.

The ruling could have a ripple effect across Europe and beyond, setting a binding precedent for how some courts deal with the rising tide of climate litigation argued on the basis of human rights infringements.