The global implications of the ECHR ruling and the challenges for human rights in the era of climate change.

Switzerland is guilty of failing to adopt sufficiently effective government policies to combat the climate crisis. This is the landmark decision of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in the case Verein KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz and Others v. Switzerland, a climate case brought by the Swiss association Senior Women for Climate Protection Switzerland and other individual petitioners against the Swiss state.

The Senior Women for Climate Association, which is committed to safeguarding its fundamental rights, in particular the right to life and health, has filed a lawsuit against its own state, Switzerland, for failing to take the necessary measures to curb global warming. The latter causes increasingly frequent and intense heatwaves, which especially endanger the health and lives of elderly women, as confirmed by reports and studies by the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) andthe Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences (SAMS).

For the first time, a court explicitly upheld the right to climate protection, finding a violation of Art. 8 ECHR, concerning the right to private and family life, and Art. 6, which establishes the right to justice, and ordering Switzerland to take immediate action to protect the human rights of its citizens by adopting laws and administrative measures to prevent a global temperature increase of more than 1.5 degrees and setting tangible targets for emission reductions. In fact, in the legal system, the right to climate protection is rather controversial, as it is complex to find a comprehensive legal definition from which to derive a framework of standards.

Nevertheless, it is certain that the Court's decision sets an important precedent for climate disputes on a global level, as citizens of all Council of Europe states could urge them to review and, if necessary, strengthen their climate policy on the basis of the principles developed by the ECHR itself to safeguard human rights. This resolution also prepared the way for KlimaSeniorinnen to present their arguments also before the International Court of Justice, where hearings on climate equity and justice obligations for all governments will be held early next year.

The ruling draws attention to a fundamental topic, the relationship between human rights and the environment. Indeed, millions of people suffer from the catastrophic effects of climate change, and this can be seen in many cases, from deforestation and water pollution in the Philippines due to mining activities, to air and water pollution in China that has caused a worsening of the population's health, and from the floods in Pakistan to the drought in Madagascar that has left about one million people in a condition of malnutrition due to very limited access to food. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), global greenhouse gas emissions will peak by 2025 and would have to be reduced by 43% by 2030 if the situation is to remain under control. Also according to the IPCC, more than 40 per cent of the world's population lives in contexts of 'extreme vulnerability to climate change', identifying as many as 127 risks affecting settlements, infrastructure, the economy, social and cultural structures, water and food security, the health and well-being of individuals, displacement and migration.

With regard to migration, the World Bank, as reported in the Groundswell Report, expects a migration flow within its countries of around 215 million people by 2050 due to climate change. Such a scenario would unleash a series of human rights threatening situations, such as dynamics of slavery, torture, hunger, sexual exploitation and other forms of abuse, as also confirmed by the recent analysis Climate-induced migration and modern slavery, a report where for the first time a link between climate-induced migration and human rights violations through modern slavery is outlined.

In this sphere of uncertainty, finding a solution, which sees a beginning in the ECHR ruling, is also crucial to defend cultural rights, especially for indigenous peoples, who have a direct link to the environment in which they live, since for them nature is not just access to the resources they need to live, but an integral part of their culture and identity.

The ECHR ruling, therefore, can contribute to reinstating a global conscience of states, aimed at implementing immediate and concrete action to counter the causes and consequences of climate change, including through human rights, which can be understood as social and environmental safeguards for climate action.

Translated by Flora Stanziola

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