A group of Swiss women plaintiffs is demanding that the government implement a climate judgment in their favour by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).
The women from the group Klimaseniorinnen (the Association of Climate Seniors) threatened on Wednesday to report the Swiss government to the Council of Europe if it failed to act on the decision The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe is tasked with monitoring the implementation of such judgements
The Court in Strasbourg ruled in favour of the plaintiffs at the beginning of April, stating that states can be prosecuted for human rights violations if they do not do enough to protect the climate.
By failing to protect the climate, Switzerland had violated the plaintiffs' right to family and private life, the court ruled. It was the first climate action to be heard by the Grand Chamber of the ECtHR and, according to legal experts, could set a precedent for further climate actions before countless national courts.
The Swiss responded to their threat through a statement by the Legal Affairs Committee of the smaller chamber of parliament, the Council of States. It had recently found that the court had "inadmissibly overstretched the law" and recommended that it be ignored. Parliament intends to deal with this before the summer.
The climate seniors said that Switzerland was obliged to implement the judgement "We can also see the judgment as an opportunity and thus become a role model for other states," said the co-president of the association, Rosmarie Wydler-Wälti.