Swiss women take government to European court in groundbreaking climate crisis case

Switzerland’s government – having twice won in domestic courts in a six-year battle – argues case is inadmissible

Supporters of the Senior Women for Climate Protection association hold paper flowers and a banner outside the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg (Emma Farge/Reuters)

Thousands of Swiss women pensioners have joined forces in a groundbreaking case at the European Court of Human Rights, arguing that their government's "woefully inadequate" efforts to fight the climate crisis violate their human rights.

The first climate change case at the Strasbourg court has been brought by the group Senior Women for Climate Protection, who claim that their country's inaction in the face of rising temperatures puts them at risk of dying during heatwaves. The group has around 2,000 members across Switzerland with an average age of 73.

The case, which campaign group Greenpeace initiated on behalf of the women, opened on Wednesday in the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

The case would set an important precedent since the women's' lawyers are seeking a precedent that will apply to all signatories of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Several dozen of the women joined by supporters and climate activists from Greenpeace gathered outside the courtroom ahead of the start, holding banners and flowers.

Bruna Molinari, who is 81 and suffers from asthma which she says is aggravated by excessive heat, told Reuters she hoped the outcome would at least benefit generations to come. "As a grandmother and mother, I think they have the right to have a climate that is better than the one we have," she said, coughing throughout.

Stefanie Brander, a member of the association Senior Women for Climate Protection, said that she felt the government had underestimated the group until now.

"We were taken for old women who did not have a clear idea of the issues ... and I think that could now turn against them," she told Reuters outside the courtroom.

The Swiss government, which twice won in domestic courts in a six-year legal battle, has argued that the case is inadmissible. Bern's lawyer Alain Chablais told the court in opening remarks that any prescriptive measures issued by the court would represent an overreach, giving it a "quasi-legislative" role.

In a sign of its importance, eight other governments – Romania, Latvia, Austria, Slovakia, Norway, Italy, Portugal and Ireland – have joined the case. At least one has echoed Bern in calling for its dismissal.

A verdict is expected next year.

The court will also hear a case brought by Damien Careme, a member of the European Parliament for the French Green party, who is challenging France's refusal to take more ambitious climate measures.

Reuters