Switzerland - June 2024

Parliament has urged no further action to implement the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR)’s April ruling which stated that Switzerland is violating the rights of senior women by failing to protect them from the negative consequences of climate change. The final decision on whether to comply with the decision is expected to be announced by the Federal Council in August, as the branch of government responsible for preparing an action plan to execute the ruling. A declaration, prepared by the Legal Affairs Committee and adopted by both parliamentary houses, criticizes the ECHR ruling for “inappropriate and unacceptable judicial activism,” which, according to the declaration, risks calling the Court’s legitimacy into question. The declaration concludes that there is no reason to take further action on the ECHR’s ruling, claiming it already has an effective climate strategy. The ECHR’s ruling is binding, and leaves it open to Swiss policymakers to remedy the inadequate protections. In response, the NGO that brought the case before the ECHR, KlimaSeniorinnen, launched a petition, collecting over 22,000 signatures to urge MPs to respect the ruling and protect the European Convention on Human Rights.

Sources: International IDEA, BBC, SWR, Swiss Parliament, KlimaSeniorinnen, SRF, EJIL Talk