European court rules human rights violated by climate inaction
By BBC
Published
1 min read
The women, mostly in their 70s, said that their age and gender made them particularly vulnerable to the effects of heatwaves linked to climate change.
A group of older Swiss women have won a partial victory in their climate case in the European Court of Human Rights.
The women, mostly in their 70s, said that their age and gender made them particularly vulnerable to the effects of heatwaves linked to climate change.
The court said Switzerland's efforts to meet its emission reduction targets had been woefully inadequate.
It is the first time the powerful court has ruled on global warming.
The ruling is binding and can trickle down to influence the law in 46 countries in Europe including the UK.
The Swiss women, called KlimaSeniorinnen or Senior Women for Climate Protection, argued that they cannot leave their homes and suffer health attacks during heatwaves in Switzerland.
On Tuesday data showed that last month was the world's warmest March on record, meaning the temperature records have broken ten months in a row.
The court dismissed two other cases brought by six Portuguese young people and a former French mayor. Both argued that European governments had failed to tackle climate change quickly enough, violating their rights.
Member of the KlimaSeniorinnen Elisabeth Smart, 76, told BBC News that she has seen how the climate in Switzerland has changed since she was a child growing up on a farm.
Asked about her commitment to the case for nine years, she said: "Some of us are just made that way. We are not made to sit in a rocking chair and knit."
