The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights has today issued three separate rulings on cases related to climate change. In the case of Verein KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz and Others v. Switzerland, the Court found violations of Article 8 (right to respect for private and family life) and Article 6 § 1 (access to court) of the European Convention on Human Rights due to Switzerland’s failure to implement sufficient measures to combat climate change.
The Grand Chamber’s judgment in that case is final. The Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers will now supervise the implementation of the judgment by the Swiss authorities. The Court found the applications in two other cases related to climate change – Duarte Agostinho and Others v. Portugal and 32 Others and Carême v. France – to be inadmissible.
Thematic page on human rights and the environment
Human rights and the environment: The impact of the European Convention on Human Rights