European Court of Human Rights rules on climate change cases

By Christopher Wells

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) issued decisions in three climate-change related cases on Tuesday, dismissing two but ruling in a third that Switzerland had violated the human rights of a group of Swiss women by failing to make adequate efforts to meet its emission reduction targets.

The Swiss case focused on the claims of some 2400 mostly elderly Swiss women that heat waves caused by climate change undermined their health and quality of life, and led to a higher risk of death.

The Court ruled that the government’s failure to live up to its climate obligations was a violation of their human rights with regard to the right to effective protection from “the serious adverse effects of climate change on lives, health, well-being and quality of life.”

Two other cases, brought respectively by a French mayor and a group of Portuguese youth, were dismissed. In the Portuguese case, the court ruled that the young people had not yet exhausted all legal avenues in in their own country, and that they had no grounds to extend their claim to countries outside of Portugal.

The European Court’s decisions are not open to appeal, and are binding on all 46 member states, including the United Kingdom. Swiss leaders have said they will study the Court’s ruling. 

Tuesday’s decisions notably demonstrated that courts can rule on legal obligations regarding climate change, and opened the way for future claims.