The European Court of Human Rights ruled today that climate protection is a human right.

A group of Swiss senior citizens had sued the Swiss state for failing to adequately protect the lives of its citizens through insufficient climate protection measures. They argued that they were particularly at risk from climate change due to their age – for example from increasingly intense and prolonged heatwaves. The judges at the European Court of Human Rights agreed with them. The Swiss authorities had not adequately addressed climate change and its consequences. The Swiss state could now be forced to take more climate protection measures.

The case of the climate seniors was the first climate action ever to be heard by the European Court of Human Rights. The ruling could set a precedent for other climate lawsuits.