Swiss Parliament to Vote on Motion Rejecting Landmark Climate Ruling

The lower house of the Swiss parliament is set to vote on Wednesday on a motion that rejects a landmark ruling by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), which ordered Switzerland to intensify its efforts to combat global warming. This move could potentially inspire other nations to resist the influence of international courts.

In April, the ECHR in Strasbourg issued an unprecedented judgment, stating that Bern had violated the human rights of a group of older Swiss women, known as the KlimaSeniorinnen, by failing to adequately address climate change. The ruling was hailed as a significant step in climate litigation, setting a precedent for all 46 signatories of the European Convention on Human Rights.

However, Switzerland's right-leaning upper house recently passed a non-binding motion criticizing the court's "judicial activism" and arguing that Switzerland was already doing enough to combat climate change. Several lawmakers denounced the court's "interference" in Swiss democracy, with the Swiss People's Party (SVP), the largest party in parliament, backing the motion. During the debate, several older women who had brought the case to Strasbourg were present, occasionally shaking their heads in disapproval.

While the governing Federal Council has the authority to diverge from parliament's stance, the environment minister, a member of the council, has also appeared to downplay the significance of the ruling. Isabela Keuschnigg, a legal researcher at the London School of Economics, warned that if the government refused to implement the ruling, it could "set a concerning precedent, undermining the role of legal oversight in democratic governance." Such a move would be unprecedented in the Council of Europe.

Why It Matters : The potential rejection of the ECHR ruling by Switzerland could have far-reaching implications. It would signal political pushback against international climate action, especially in the wake of broad far-right gains in the recent European parliament elections. The case is part of a growing trend of climate litigation moving through world courts, with Latin America's human rights court set to issue an advisory opinion later this year.

The ECHR's ruling is the first by a regional court to address climate change, setting a sweeping precedent for all signatories of the European Convention on Human Rights. Bern must now inform the Council of Europe, to which the court belongs, by October on how it plans to implement the decision. No member state has ever refused to implement a judgment, according to Council of Europe spokesperson Andrew Cutting, although he noted that the Swiss case is still at an early stage of implementation.

A committee of the Council of Europe meets four times a year to monitor compliance with ECHR rulings. Those affected by rulings can raise complaints, and in exceptional cases, the committee can refer these back to the ECHR. This has only happened twice in the court’s 65-year history.

It is not uncommon for countries to be slow in implementing ECHR rulings. According to the European Implementation Network, nearly half of the main judgments handed down by the court in the last decade are still awaiting implementation, taking on average over six years. If Bern does not comply, legal experts warn that it risks emboldening critics to push back in policy areas where national legislatures are in conflict with supranational bodies.

"Certain countries will try to use the Swiss resistance to say, 'If Switzerland does not implement, then why should we?'" said Helen Keller, a former Swiss judge at the ECHR. British officials have hinted at leaving the Convention due to differences over London's plan to deport irregular migrants to Rwanda. However, legal experts believe it is unlikely that the Swiss case will trigger a mass exodus from the Convention. The LSE's Setzer noted that there would be "significant political and social repercussions" for countries that follow suit. Expulsion from the Council of Europe is also a possibility in extreme cases, as evidenced by Russia's expulsion in March 2022 following its invasion of Ukraine.

Key Takeaways

• The Swiss parliament's lower house is voting on a motion rejecting an ECHR ruling on climate action.
• The ECHR ruled that Switzerland violated the human rights of older women by not addressing climate change adequately.
• Switzerland's right-leaning upper house criticized the court's "judicial activism" and claimed the country is already doing enough.
• Refusal to implement the ruling could undermine the role of legal oversight in democratic governance.
• The case could inspire other nations to resist international court rulings, potentially weakening global climate action efforts.