In the first instance, an international court upholds the right to be safe from climate change

Strasbourg ruling in Strasbourg sets a precedent for a European court to rule on climate change laws requiring governments to follow a global climate action target by 2030

The decision sets a precedent that could empower other plaintiffs seeking to hold their governments accountable for pollution that exacerbates all kinds of disasters — from heatwaves to fires, floods, and droughts.

STRASBOURG, France — Europe’s highest human rights court began its session Tuesday on a group of landmark climate change cases aimed at forcing countries to meet international obligations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

If a decision is made against any of the countries then net emissions could be reduced to zero by the year 2030. The EU, which doesn’t include Switzerland, currently has a target to be climate-neutral by 2050. Many governments have said that meeting a 2030 goal would be economically unattainable.

During the week of the ruling a crowd gathered in front of the court building to wave flags and cheer for a protester who was free after multiple arrests during a demonstration in The Hague.

“We’re nervous. “I was nervous and excited when I heard about the case in Strasbourg,” said a young Portuguese woman who was part of the group who brought the case.

Climate change and the young people of the Netherlands: A multiracial court ruling could undermine an earlier decision in the Netherlands against climate change laws

The groups are confident that the 17 judges will rule in their favor, but a decision in the other direction could undermine a previous ruling in the Netherlands. The Dutch Supreme Court told the government to cut emissions by at least 25% by the end of 2020.

The heat waves, the rain, and the heat waves are all making a problem of greenhouse effects. And what worries me is the frequency in which they started happening more and more. That’s what really scared me. I wondered to myself, what can I do? she said.

Together with five more young people, Santos Oliveira took Portugal and 32 other nations to court, arguing the failure to stop emissions violated their fundamental rights.

At the other end of the age spectrum, a group of Swiss retirees are also demanding their government do more. Senior Women for Climate Protection, whose average age is 74, say older women’s rights are especially infringed on because they are most affected by the extreme heat that will become more frequent due to global warming.

Earth shattered global annual heat records in 2023, flirted with the world’s agreed-upon warming threshold, and showed more signs of a feverish planet, Copernicus, a European climate agency, said in January.

“Climate change” damages in Portugal and in other countries — the European Court of Human Rights ruled against it – but the Lisbon case was thrown out

In all three cases, lawyers argued that the political and civil protections guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights are meaningless if the planet is uninhabitable.

Switzerland is not the only country that is affected by global warming according to a representative from the country. “This problem cannot be solved by Switzerland alone.”

The Portuguese case was given the go-ahead by the court because of the seriousness of the climate crisis.

Judgments from the European Court of Human Rights aren’t legally binding against all 46 of its member states, but they set a legal precedent against which future lawsuits would be judged.

Climate change is making heatwaves more intense and frequent, and heatwaves pose greater risks to older adults, like the plaintiffs in this landmark suit. Older adults who have a chronic medical condition are more likely to be taking prescription medicines that can affect their ability to regulate temperature. Climate-related disasters have been found to have disproportionate impacts on women, and intensify gender-based violence.

Climate activist Greta Thunberg, who also attended the ruling, told reporters afterward that the world could expect more climate-change-related litigation.