Strasbourg court’s Swiss climate ruling could have global impact, say experts

Decision by European court of human rights around vulnerability of older women to heatwaves marks significant shift

A landmark legal ruling at the European court of human rights could open the floodgates for a slew of new court cases around the world, experts have said.

The Strasbourg-based court said earlier this week that Switzerland’s failure to do enough to cut its national greenhouse gas emissions was a clear violation of the human rights of a group of more than 2,000 older Swiss women. The women argued successfully that their rights to privacy and family life were being breached because they were particularly vulnerable to the health impacts of heatwaves.