Extract from ABC News
The European Court of Human Rights has ruled two of three key climate change cases before it are inadmissible, but found in favour of one.
A group of elderly Swiss women won their case after suing their government for alleged "woefully inadequate" efforts to fight climate change.
The court agreed their government had violated some human rights by missing past emissions-reduction targets.
The women said climate change put them at risk of dying during heatwaves.
Two other cases, brought by a group of Portuguese young people against 32 European governments and a former French mayor against the French government, were ruled as inadmissible.
Impact of win sets precedent
The Swiss case, brought by more than 2,000 women, could have a ripple effect across Europe and beyond, setting a precedent for how some courts deal with the rising tide of climate litigation argued on the basis of human rights infringements.
Court president Siofra O'Leary said the Swiss government had violated the human right to a private and family life by failing to put in place sufficient domestic policies to tackle climate change.
"This included a failure to quantify, through a carbon budget or otherwise, national greenhouse gas emissions limitations," Judge O'Leary said.
She also noted the Swiss government failed to meet its past greenhouse gas emission reduction targets because it did not put in place measures to ensure the goals were achieved.
Global civic movement Avaaz said the court's ruling had opened a new chapter in climate litigation.
"The Swiss ruling sets a crucial legally binding precedent serving as a blueprint for how to successfully sue your own government over climate failures," Ruth Delbaere, legal campaigns director at Avaaz, said.
Sofia Oliveira, one of the Portuguese young people who lost their case, said the Swiss women's win was a victory for everyone.
"The most important thing is that the court has said in the Swiss women's case that governments must cut their emissions more to protect human rights," she said.
The Swiss verdict, which cannot be appealed, could compel Switzerland's government to take greater action on reducing emissions, including revising its 2030 emissions reductions targets to get in line with the Paris Agreement goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Reuters
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