On April 9th, a verdict was reached that could usher in a new era in understanding human rights. A group of over 2,500 senior women from Switzerland accused their country’s government of not sufficiently combating climate change. The court ruled in their favor.

The association between extreme temperatures and climate change and their impact on our health is basic scientific knowledge. Older individuals are most vulnerable to death during increasingly frequent and longer heatwaves in Europe. 👵🌡️

What’s groundbreaking is pointing to the entire state as culpable. The ETPC concluded that Switzerland had not created a sufficiently robust strategy to limit emissions and mitigate the effects of the climate catastrophe, despite committing to it (like most of the world) by signing the Paris Agreement in 2015. The verdict is final; the Strasbourg tribunal is the ultimate legal authority for the 46 states belonging to the Council of Europe.

However, it doesn’t impose any fines; rather, it serves as a form of pressure on Switzerland and other states to take climate policy more seriously. This decision should primarily be understood as a historical precedent, perhaps the most significant in the last decade. 🌱

Is a stable climate a human right?

#ClimateCrisis #HumanRights #Seniors #ClimateChange #ParisAgreement #ETPC #StableClimate