When we think of Switzerland, we generally think of beautiful alpine scenery, skiing, chocolates, and discreet banking. Switzerland has been, for many years, a financial hub in Europe, a playground for the rich and famous, and a nation that managed to stay more or less neutral through two world wars. Switzerland also has a martial tradition, with every able-bodied adult male required to serve in the armed forces. There is an apocryphal story of Adolf Hitler in 1940 meeting with Swiss Chancellor George Bovet, in which Hitler supposedly asked Bovet what the Swiss would do if he sent men numbering double that of the Swiss Army across the border. "Each of my men," Bovet was said to reply, "...will fire twice."
That quote hasn't aged well. Switzerland will now be known for something else: Climate change lawfare.
Europe's top human rights court ruled on Tuesday that the Swiss government had violated the human rights of its citizens by failing to do enough to combat climate change, in a decision that will set a precedent for future climate lawsuits.
The European Court of Human Rights's ruling, in favour of the more than 2,000 Swiss women who brought the case, is expected to resonate in court decisions across Europe and beyond, and to embolden more communities to bring climate cases against governments.
But in a sign of the complexities of the growing wave of climate litigation, the court (ECtHR) rejected two other climate-related cases on procedural grounds. One of these was brought by a group of six Portuguese young people against 32 European governments and another by a former mayor of a low-lying French coastal town.
Here's the thing: Switzerland already had some pretty tough "carbon emissions" goals.
Switzerland has committed to cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030, from 1990 levels. Bern had proposed stronger measures to deliver the goal, but voters rebuffed them in a 2021 referendum as too burdensome.
The verdict could also influence future rulings at the Strasbourg court, which had put six other climate cases on hold pending Tuesday's decisions.
We haven't seen the last of this kind of legal wrangling, just as we haven't seen the last of government mandates regarding the environment - and, sadly, we haven't seen the last of outright stupidity over this issue.
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The key to the decision seems to be that Switzerland set climate goals that they are failing to meet, putting the women who brought suit in greater danger of dying due to excess heat.
The Swiss women, known as KlimaSeniorinnen and aged over 64, said their government's climate inaction put them at risk of dying during heatwaves. They argued their age and gender made them particularly vulnerable to such climate change impacts.
In Switzerland?
It's hard to see how any court, European or otherwise, can render a legal decision based on something that might happen at some point in the future unless some actions that might affect that something take place as some government promised. That seems to be the gist of this lawfare suit, and now that this one is decided, several other cases may be influenced by this decision.
Courts in Australia, Brazil, Peru and South Korea are considering human rights-based climate cases. India's supreme court held in a ruling last month that citizens have the right to be free from the adverse impacts of climate change.
You can read the decision issued in this Swiss case here.
This case and this decision beg the question, "And therefore, what?" What actions are these courts expected to order these various governments to take? Have their orders been evaluated to determine fiscal impact or whether the goals set are even possible? Has anyone asked the vital question, "At what cost?"
One suspects that the cost will be ruinous. Fortunately - for now - this decision has no bearing on the United States. The European Court of Human Rights decisions don't affect us. But it does provide a template, and watch for American groups to try this here.
Climate lawfare: Coming soon to a courtroom near you!
