THE HAGUE (AP) – Switzerland hasn’t shown that it is meeting the requirements of a landmark climate change decision from Europe’s highest human rights court, the Council of Europe announced.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has sided with a group of older Swiss women against their government, ruled in April 2024 that countries must better protect their people from the consequences of climate change and that Switzerland “had failed to comply with its duties” to combat climate change and meet emissions targets.
Six months after the decision, Switzerland asked for the case to be shut, arguing it was fully in compliance with the obligations set by the Strasbourg-based court.
The Committee of Ministers, recognised that Switzerland had made some progress but hadn’t demonstrated it was meeting all of the requirements. Environmentalists hailed the decision as a victory.
“The Swiss Federal Council is not getting away with its arguments at the Committee of Ministers. Switzerland must improve its climate policy to remedy the violation of our human rights,” Co-President of Senior Women for Climate Protection Rosmarie Wydler-Wälti and one of the plaintiffs in the case, said in a statement.
The group argued that older women’s rights are especially infringed on because they are most affected by the extreme heat that will become more frequent due to global warming.
Following a three-day meeting this week, Bern was asked to provide more information on a number of topics including “concrete measures being taken to alleviate the most severe or imminent consequences of climate change in Switzerland, including any particular needs for protection, especially for persons in vulnerable situation.”
The Committee of Ministers will meet again in September.
