Expert blog: Ruling on state obligation to protect generations from environmental harm is a victory for climate justice

Recently, the voices of 2,300 courageous Swiss women, the Klima Seniorinnen, were finally heard after they demanded justice for state failure to protect their fundamental human rights against climate change impacts.

The European Court of Human Rights responded to the Klima Seniorinnen’s claim with a groundbreaking ruling on the obligations of states to protect human rights in the face of climate change impacts, compounded given their age and sex.

The message from the Court, in line with the most recent scientific evidence, is clear: states must take concrete steps to comply with their obligations to protect the rights of present and future generations from present and future climatic and environmental harm.

While the court dismissed two other complaints filed on similar grounds, this judgment made history for human rights and climate justice and represented a victory for climate activists. At the same time, it raises important questions about our future.

In 2020, the Klima Seniorinnen, an association of senior women known as Senior Women for Climate Protection Switzerland, took the Swiss government to the European Court of Human Rights. The reason for this was that they felt the government was exposing vulnerable and elderly people to the effects of heat waves caused by climate change.

The women alleged that Switzerland's climate policies were inadequate and violated their right to life and health, as outlined in Articles 2 and 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights. They also claimed that their rights to a fair trial (Article 6) and to a remedy (Article 13) were violated, as Swiss courts denied them the opportunity to have their complaint heard on its merits.

In response, the Swiss government defended its position by explaining that climate change is a global phenomenon and that the group of women failed to demonstrate the causal link between their alleged harm and Switzerland's emissions.

The European Court of Human Rights has now delivered a decisive verdict, marking a crucial step forward in the battle for climate justice and human rights protection. Switzerland has been held accountable for violating its obligations to protect citizens' basic human rights, specifically their right to a private and family life, against the looming harms caused by climate change effects.

The ruling exposes a critical failure of Swiss legislation to mitigate the irreversible effects of climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to meet the climate targets outlined in the Paris Agreement.

The Swiss government's insufficient action to tackle climate change has been called into question, and the consequences of this ruling are far-reaching.

For the first time, the Court has unequivocally declared that all signatory states to the European Convention of Human Rights, not just Switzerland, have a primary duty to adopt and effectively implement measures capable of mitigating the existing and future effects of climate change. These measures must be practical and effective, rather than mere theoretical or illusory solutions.

Even though we cannot guarantee that governments will take effective action to scale up their ambitions, the ruling in favour of Klima Seniorinnen has given us hope and awareness that we can be active and powerful agents of our future. Our collective voices and concerns have a space to be heard and addressed.

This victory has confirmed the power of collective legal actions in demanding change and better care of our future from our governments, which continue to fail to curb emissions and fossil fuels in the name of economic development and illusory prosperity.

We are now waiting to see the far-reaching implications of this case both in Europe and beyond. In the UK, there are high expectations for the impact of this victory on future climate policy, considering the overall 'insufficient' level of climate action and chronic delays in developing new climate policies.

It is imperative that governments prioritize climatic and environmental protection by significantly reducing climate-altering emissions caused by human activity, as this is a prerequisite for the enjoyment of our most basic human rights and the rights of future generations.

We are the first generation to truly understand the impact of our actions on the planet. The climate crisis is already affecting our human rights, and we cannot afford to remain indifferent. It is our responsibility to take action and protect ourselves and future generations from the negative effects of climate change, as states are lagging behind in climate policy commitment and human rights protection.

Irene Sacchetti, PhD candidate in climate change and refugee law at Nottingham Law School, is part of the AHRC-funded Midlands4Cities Doctoral Training Partnership (M4C).