Swiss politicians have rejected a significant climate ruling from the European Court of Human Rights, sparking concerns that other countries with high pollution levels may also defy such judgments.
In April, a panel of judges in Strasbourg ruled that Switzerland had breached the human rights of older women due to its inadequate climate policies, leaving them more susceptible to heatwaves.
The KlimaSeniorinnen, also known as the Swiss female climate elders, comprise 2,400 women aged over 65 who filed a lawsuit against the Swiss government for its inadequate efforts to combat global warming and prevent the planet from exceeding a temperature increase of 1.5°C.
Despite facing numerous challenges in regional and national courts over the years, they elevated the case to the highest human rights court in Europe and achieved a partial triumph.
The ruling was celebrated by activists as a breakthrough because it opened the door for legal challenges against all Council of Europe members with sluggish efforts to transition away from carbon-intensive economies.
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However, the Swiss parliament’s lower house voted on Wednesday to disregard the ruling, with 111 votes in favour and 72 against. They argued that the judges had exceeded their authority and that Switzerland had already taken sufficient action.
The declaration, which has also been approved by the upper house but is not binding on the federal government, accused the court of engaging in “inadmissible and disproportionate judicial activism.”
“This is terrible from a rule-of-law perspective,” said Corina Heri, a law researcher at the University of Zürich, adding that “the whole system would fall apart” if lots of states started to pick and choose which rulings they complied with.
“The term ‘slippery slope’ is overused, obviously, but it is a dangerous precedent to create,” Heri added.
The vote comes shortly after significant gains by far-right parties in European Union elections. Switzerland, although not a member of the EU, is approaching the 50th anniversary of its ratification of the European Convention on Human Rights in November.
Ratifying this convention legally binds Switzerland to abide by the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights.
