The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that Switzerland infringed “several” human rights by not doing enough to tackle climate change, in a far-reaching case that also has implications for the Netherlands. 

The case, the first of its kind at the human rights court, was brought by a group of some 2,000 older Swiss women who are concerned about climate change. Two other cases, one brought by a group of Portuguese youngsters and one by a French mayor, were referred back to the national courts for their consideration. 

Human rights court rulings are binding and judges can impose fines on countries that do not comply. The rulings can also have an impact on other, similar cases, such as the Urgenda ruling in the Netherlands.

In that case, the Dutch Supreme Court said the state is required to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to protect the health of its people, after a seven year legal process.

The Urgenda case relied in part on the European Convention on Human Rights so if the European court had said the convention doesn’t protect against climate change, there would have been grounds to appeal against the Urgenda ruling.

In the Swiss case, the court said Article 8 of the convention “encompasses a right to effective protection by the state authorities from the serious adverse effects of climate change on lives, health, well-being and quality of life”.

The Swiss confederation had failed to comply with its duties (“positive obligations”) under the convention concerning climate change, the court said.

In the French case, the court ruled the plaintiff did not have victim status within the meaning of article 34 of the convention. The court ruled the Portuguese case was inadmissible because the plaintiffs were attempting to take action against 33 countries and because it had gone through the local system first. 

Dutch environment minister Rob Jetten said the three cases made it clear that “too little for too long” was being done to combat climate change, because politicians should not need a legal decision to force them to take action.

The Swiss ruling makes it “extra clear” that measures to mitigate climate change need to be taken, he said.