Over 2,000 women are suing the Swiss government because its climate change policy violates their right to life and health.
For the first time, the ECHR will hear a climate change case.
It follows six years of unsuccessful judicial battles in Switzerland.
Switzerland’s temperatures are rising faster than the global average, and heat waves are becoming more frequent.
The Swiss women, who have an average age of 73 and call themselves the Club of Climate Seniors, assert that climate change threatens their human rights, health, and even their lives. Their court evidence includes their medical records.
They want the ECHR to compel Switzerland to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions more vigorously.
Elisabeth Stern, one of the campaigners, told the BBC, “Due to climate change, we have more heatwaves and older women perish more frequently during them than they would otherwise.
“Some say, why are you lamenting if you’re going to die? But we don’t want to perish because our Swiss government has been unable to develop an effective climate policy.”
According to the European Climate and Health Observatory, projected increases in average temperature are expected to have “serious consequences” for public health in Europe, particularly among the elderly.
Over the past two decades, heat-related mortality among 65-year-old Europeans has risen by over 30%.
Climate change can impact health, but the Swiss government does not believe it directly affects elderly women.
If the women prevail, the case could set a precedent for all 46 member states of the European court.
Human activity is increasing global temperatures, and climate change now threatens every aspect of human existence.
According to climate scientists, temperature increases must be slowed if we are to avoid the worst effects of climate change. Global warming must be limited to 1.5C by 2100.
If global warming exceeds 1.5 degrees Celsius, extreme rains will flood Europe, according to the IPCC.
Extreme temperatures can also increase the risk of wildfires, as was the case in Europe last summer, when France and Germany saw seven times more land burned than usual between January and the middle of July 2022.
