Via Climate Nexus: Swiss Climate Inaction Violated Human Rights: Switzerland is violating the human rights of its citizens by failing to sufficiently address the climate crisis, the European Court of Human Rights said on Tuesday in a landmark ruling that could have major implications across 48 European countries. In ruling for the 2,000 members of Switzerland’s Senior Women for Climate Protection (average age: 74), the ECHR held the country’s “fail[ure] to comply with its duties” to meet its emissions reductions targets and otherwise protect its citizens from the ravages of the climate crisis. The ruling, which cannot be appealed, is legally binding on all 46 member states of the Council of Europe. The decision is “hugely important for government accountability and government climate action because it affirms that climate change is a human rights crisis, and that climate action is a legal duty,” Lucy Maxwell, the co-director of the Climate Litigation Network, told Bloomberg. “What’s really powerful is that the court has gone to the next level of detail and said what that means is emissions reductions targets that are informed by science, and in this case of the Swiss government, you have failed to do that.” The court also dismissed two related cases on procedural grounds. (Bloomberg $, AP, CNN, Deutsche Welle, The Guardian, EuroNews, New York Times $, Reuters, Wall Street Journal $, FT $, Reuters, Politico EU, Telegraph, BBC, France24, AFP via Barron’s)
The European Court of Human Rights, in a landmark ruling that could have major implications across 48 European countries, rulng for the 2,000 members of Switzerland’s Senior Women for Climate Protection (average age: 74), the ECHR held the country’s “fail[ure] to comply with its duties” to meet its emissions reductions targets and otherwise protect its citizens from the ravages of the climate crisis. The ruling, which cannot be appealed, is legally binding on all 46 member states of the Council of Europe.
