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The applicants are an association for the prevention of climate change whose members are women with an average age of 73 and, separately, four elderly women who complain of health problems, made worse by climate change including heatwaves, which undermine their living conditions and health. The applicants complain to the European Court of Human Rights that Switzerland has failed to fulfil its obligation to protect their health and life and to ensure respect for their private and family life, including their home. They argue that Switzerland has failed to introduce suitable legislation and put in place appropriate and sufficient measures to fight climate change and that it has not provided them with access to the national courts to make such claims.
This case is the first case before the Grand Chamber that brings to the fore the link between the rights guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights and the effects of climate change on health and well-being. ClientEarth’s third party intervention aimed to assist the Court by providing information on the following issues relevant to the claim: (i) the key conclusions of the international scientific consensus on climate change, (ii) the present and future effects of global temperature increases on human health, (iii) the duties of States under international climate change law, and (iv) the implications for climate policy and legislation and the due diligence standard under the Convention