For the first time, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled against a country for inadequate climate protection — making clear that climate protection is a human right. Experts are united in calling it a precedent-setting case for all member states of the Council of Europe and a "historic turning point" in the fight against the climate crisis.

Around 2,000 Swiss senior women accused their government of violating their human rights through inadequate climate protection, and took their case all the way to the court in Strasbourg. On Tuesday, the court ruled in their favour and called on Switzerland to take stronger measures for climate protection. Two further climate cases — one from France, one from Portugal — were dismissed on procedural grounds.

Daniel Ennöckl from the Institute of Legal Sciences at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) described the ECHR ruling to ORF as a milestone for climate protection in Europe. "Because it has made clear that when a state fails to align its policies with meeting the two-degree target, it is violating the fundamental rights and freedoms of its citizens." 

Lawyer and climate litigation expert Michaela Krömer even speaks of a "legal earthquake" and "historic turning point". "It's historic because the court has made clear that climate protection is a human right." It is also historic, she notes, that international courts are now taking climate cases and their significance seriously. And that the ECHR is obliging states to do more for climate protection and to create a legal framework in which climate protection measures can be enforced.

Read the full article on ORF News.