European court hears first citizen complaints over climate inaction

On a momentous day for international legal action against climate change, the European Court of Human Rights heard the first two of three cases challenging nations to do more to curb their greenhouse gas emissions.

The Strasbourg, France-based court heard two climate cases Wednesday against Swiss and French authorities – on the same day the U.N. General Assembly agreed to ask the International Court of Justice at The Hague for an unprecedented legal opinion on the consequences of climate inaction.

The first case, Verein KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz and Others v. Switzerland, involves a group of more than 2,000 older women concerned about climate change and four other women older than 80 who complained government inaction on climate protection worsened their health problems during heatwaves. The oldest of the four, born in 1931, has since died.

They are demanding that the Swiss government do what's necessary to meet the 2030 global goal of cutting carbon emissions by roughly 50% so the planet stays below the 2015 Paris Agreement's preferred threshold of 1.5 °C of global warming.

Switzerland's environment department decided in 2017 that the complainants could not be considered victims, and Swiss courts dismissed their appeals in part because it said women older than 75 were not the only population affected.

So they took it up with the European court. Switzerland is a member, because it ratified the European Convention on Human Rights, which established the court, though the Alpine nation is not part of the European Union.

The right to life

The second case, Carême v. France, was brought by Damien Carême, the former mayor of Grande-Synthe, on the English Channel. Five years ago, he asked the French government to do what was needed to reverse the rise in French-produced greenhouse gases and ensure the country adapts to climate change.

He claims the authorities failed to do so, violating their legal duty to guarantee the rights to life and to a "normal private and family life," according to the European court.

After the court hearings, which are publicly accessible via webcasts, the court will begin deliberating on the cases in private and release its rulings at a later stage.

A third climate case, Duarte Agostinho and Others v. Portugal and Others, filed by six Portuguese between the ages of 10 and 23, will be heard later this summer. They complain that 33 nations are failing to meet their obligations to protect their lives and that, due to their youth, climate change particularly affects them.

The European court could order the Swiss, French and Portuguese governments to accelerate their carbon-cutting plans, which might encourage more such lawsuits in Europe and set a legal precedent that prompts more such cases globally.