Climate change in Switzerland: Climate leaders file lawsuit against Switzerland – News

• Switzerland is taking very little consistent action against climate change and therefore protecting older women in particular very little.
• This is what the so-called climatic elders think. It has now officially filed a complaint against Switzerland with the European Court of Human Rights.
• Greenpeace supports the cause and writes: Older women would particularly suffer the consequences of climate change.
• Furthermore, they are exposed to a significantly higher risk during heat waves.

A court response to the question of whether states are violating human rights through inadequate climate protection would point the way, according to Greenpeace.

Not without opportunity

The elders had already announced the demand in advance. Experts like constitutional lawyer Rainer Schweizer of the University of St. Gallen see certain opportunities. This case is of fundamental importance for the interpretation and application of various provisions of the Human Rights Convention. “That’s why I think it’s possible for the court to stand up,” says Schweizer.

The professor of constitutional law emphasizes that the issue also concerns other European countries. In the Netherlands, an environmental lawsuit of this type against the state was confirmed last year.

Now Swiss climatologists also hope their complaint will result in a groundbreaking verdict. Constitutional lawyers believe it is quite possible that the Swiss lawsuit could set a precedent for all of Europe.

The roughly 1,800 plaintiffs have already been denied multiple times with their application, most recently in May in federal court.