Female climate activists could report Switzerland to Council of Europe
"We can also see the judgement as an opportunity and use it to become a role model for other countries," said Wydler-Wälti, co-president of the KlimaSeniorinnen (the Climate Senior Women).
Keystone
The senior Swiss women who recently won a landmark climate case in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) have sharply criticised a Swiss parliamentary committee that last week rejected the ruling.
This content was published on
3 minutes
Keystone-SDA
Do you want to read our weekly top stories? Subscribe here.
The ECHR verdict is binding for Switzerland and must not be ignored, they declared on Wednesday. If necessary, the Council of Europe would be informed.
“Human rights are not subject to political majorities,” Rosmarie Wydler-Wälti, co-president of the KlimaSeniorinnen (the Climate Senior Women), told the media. “We expect the Federal Council to resolutely protect institutions and the rule of law and not to comply in any way with the Senate declaration.”
The elderly plaintiffs are demanding that parliament “fulfil its responsibility.” Should this not happen, the group will contact the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe and inform it of “all developments and omissions in Switzerland”.
The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe has the task of reviewing the implementation of ECHR judgements.
Legal Commission wants to ignore judgement
Today’s announcement was triggered by a decision made by the Senate Legal Affairs Committee on May 21. It concluded that the ECHR had “overreached its authority” with its climate judgement.
The committee requested that a declaration be issued stating that Switzerland sees no reason to comply with the judgement. The Senate will decide on the adoption of this declaration in the summer session.
‘Judgement fell on Switzerland by chance’
At the beginning of April, the ECHR ruled in favour of the women’s association and found that Switzerland had violated the Convention on Human Rights. Switzerland had failed to fulfil its duties regarding climate protection.
“The judgement fell on Switzerland by chance,” said Wydler-Wälti. Another country could also have been accused. “We can also see the judgement as an opportunity and use it to become a role model for other countries.”
Adapted from German by DeepL/dkk/sb
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
External Content
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Almost finished… We need to confirm your email address. To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you.
This content was published on
The Austrian countertenor won the 69th Eurovision in Basel on Saturday, edging out Israel. Switzerland’s Zoë Më came tenth.
Swiss minister: situation at German border hasn’t changed
This content was published on
Tighter rules at Germany’s borders have so far not had an impact on Switzerland, Justice Minister Beat Jans said on Saturday.
Basel ‘satisfied’ with Eurovision week as grand final approaches
This content was published on
Ahead of the Eurovision final on Saturday, authorities in Basel say the event has so far gone well, without major incidents.
Swiss Abroad elect representatives online for first time
This content was published on
Swiss citizens in 50 countries have used electronic voting for the first time to elect representatives to the Council of the Swiss Abroad for the 2025-2029 legislative.
Nestlé scraps Nutri-Score food label in Switzerland
This content was published on
Nestlé plans to phase out its Nutri-Score nutrition labelling system on products sold in Switzerland. The food giant says it is almost the last company in the country to use it.
Swiss National Bank chairman warns of ‘great insecurity’ caused by US tariffs
This content was published on
The president of the Swiss National Bank (SNB), Martin Schlegel, has warned of the huge financial uncertainties caused by recent US tariffs.
Study: spring in Swiss Alps starts earlier and earlier
This content was published on
Climate change is transforming the Alps: after the snow cover disappears, plants in meadows and pastures are sprouting roughly six days earlier than 25 years ago.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.