Historical ruling from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). In a judgment made known this Tuesday, the court has ruled in favor of the Verein association, made up of more than 2,000 elderly women, of whom a third are over 75 years old, against Switzerland for not protecting them against the effects of climate change.
The ruling, by sixteen votes to one, states that the Swiss authorities violated Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights protecting the right to private and personal life. In addition, the 17 judges unanimously voted that the Swiss Administration and courts violated the right of access to courts of said association.
On one hand, the association along with four women over 80 years old on the other, went to the Swiss Administration in November 2016 demanding protection against the climate. The four women stated that their health problems worsened during heatwaves and significantly affected their lives.
The Swiss Administration and the country’s courts dismissed their claims. The case reached the ECHR on November 26, 2020. The Court only upheld the association’s complaint as it considers that the four women do not have victim status since they were not highly exposed to the effects of climate change. However, it rules in favor of the women’s association by considering that the State must implement measures to mitigate the effects of climate change.
The Court points out that the country’s legislation has gaps in climate change matters and that the goal of reducing greenhouse gases had not been met. Therefore, it urges the country to adopt the necessary measures in this regard and orders it to pay 80,000 euros to the plaintiff association for expenses and costs.
