Zurich, Switzerland – The Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers (CMDH) will meet in Strasbourg from 4 to 6 March to examine Switzerland’s implementation of the KlimaSeniorinnen judgment[1]. In April 2024, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruled that Switzerland’s weak climate policy breached human rights—an unprecedented victory[2]. Nearly a year later, with no action taken, the KlimaSeniorinnen are calling for Switzerland to be held to account.

“Switzerland’s inadequate climate policy continues to violate our human rights, and the federal council is desperately trying to sweep the Court’s judgment under the carpet [by] requesting the Council of Europe to stop having oversight while pushing down policy that offers no meaningful response to the climate emergency. The Swiss government’s action should be better placed in addressing the impacts we all face as a consequence of climate change, rather than sticking to inaction in the face of valid criticism”, said Rosmarie Wydler-Wälti, co-president of KlimaSeniorinnen Switzerland.  

After the historic victory before the ECtHR, the execution of the KlimaSeniorinnen ruling is now under the supervision of the Council of Europe’s CMDH, which is set to convene from 4 to 6 March in Strasbourg, France. This process marks the first time an intergovernmental body will monitor a State’s climate action following a court judgment and, as such, holds broad significance for climate litigation. The CMDH has decided to monitor the implementation of the KlimaSeniorinnen judgment as part of an ‘enhanced procedure’ because the implementation of the verdict is complex. 



Swiss climate policy is far from meeting the requirements set out in the ECtHR judgment for a climate policy that is in line with human rights. The biggest omission: although the Court explicitly required Switzerland to align its policy with a maximum global warming limit of 1.5°C[3][4], the Swiss government keeps pushing a climate policy which allows it to claim a significantly larger share of the limited carbon budget it is entitled to—at the expense of other countries and their own citizens’ human rights. 

Calculating a carbon budget as required by the ECtHR is possible. In January 2025, the KlimaSeniorinnen and Greenpeace Switzerland presented before the Committee of Ministers a Swiss carbon budget calculated by experts[5] based on the methodology of the European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change (ESABCC).
The KlimaSeniorinnen and a broad coalition of non-governmental organisations are therefore asking the Committee of Ministers to demand that Switzerland develops a proper action plan —complete with clear measures and a binding timetable— to ensure full implementation of the ruling, and particularly for Switzerland to “take immediate action” to quantify a national carbon budget. 

The 1521st (Human Rights) meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies is not open to the public[6]. The Committee is expected to communicate its decisions on Friday, 7 March 2025.

ENDS

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Notes:

[1] CASE OF VEREIN KLIMASENIORINNEN SCHWEIZ AND OTHERS v. SWITZERLAND https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng#{%22itemid%22:[%22001-233206%22]} 

[2] https://www.greenpeace.org/international/press-release/66344/victory-for-swiss-senior-women-for-climate-protection-climate-protection-is-a-human-right/ 

[3] §§ 569 et seq. in the judgment

[4] §§ 547-550 et seq. in the judgment; Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report: Global Warming of 1.5 ºC; IPCC “Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability”, Working Group II Contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (“AR6 WGII”); Joyeeta Gupta, Xuemei Bai, Diana M Liverman and others, ‘A just world on a safe planet: a Lancet Planetary Health–Earth Commission report on Earth-system boundaries, translations, and transformations’ (2024) 8 The Lancet Planetary Health, p.825

[5] https://www.klimaseniorinnen.ch/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Annex_II_Pelz_du_Pont_Nicholls_Switzerland_Carbon_Budget.pdf

[6] https://www.coe.int/en/web/cm/-/1521-dh-meeting-4-6-march-2025 

The submissions to the Committee of Ministers

Here are more documents relating to the judgment. 

Contacts:

Cordelia Bähr, Lawyer of Senior Women for Climate Protection Switzerland: [email protected], +41 78 801 70 34

Yvonne Anliker, Media Communications Manager, Greenpeace Switzerland, [email protected], +41 79 306 53 42

Georg Klingler, Project Coordinator and Climate Campaigner Greenpeace Switzerland: [email protected], +41 79 785 07 38

Greenpeace International Press Desk, +31 (0)20 718 2470 (available 24 hours), [email protected]