In a landmark case, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled that authorities in Switzerland have violated the human rights of a group of Swiss women by not doing enough to stop climate change.

April 9 saw rulings on three climate change cases in the court, expedited through the process after being considered as urgent. Two of the cases – one brought by a former French mayor against France and the other by a group of Portuguese youths against Portugal and 32 other European governments – were thrown out.

But KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz (Senior Women for Climate Protection), a group of older Swiss women, many of whom are over the age of 70, saw success. They’d been arguing that Swiss authorities weren’t taking enough action to tackle climate change, and in doing so, were violating their human rights by leaving them vulnerable to the effects of climate change-induced heatwaves.

The ECHR agreed, ruling that “the Swiss Confederation had failed to comply with its duties under the Convention concerning climate change” and had violated the right to respect for private and family life under the European Convention of Human Rights.

Though the ruling doesn’t seem to have gone down particularly well with Switzerland’s largest political party, it’s safe to say members of KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz seem pretty happy. As reported by Reuters, one of the group’s leaders, Rosmarie Wydler-Waelti, said: "We still can't really believe it. We keep asking our lawyers, 'is that right?' And they tell us it's the most you could have had. The biggest victory possible."

President of the Swiss Confederation Viola Amherd responded to the ruling: "I would like to know what the grounds for it are. Sustainability is very important to Switzerland, biodiversity is very important to Switzerland, the net zero target is very important to Switzerland. We are working on those and will continue to work on them with all our strength. This ruling does nothing to change that."

In somewhat coincidental timing, a statement released a day after the ruling announced that Switzerland will be renewing its contribution to the Green Climate Fund, a fund that’s part of a United Nations initiative to mitigate climate change in developing countries.

Whilst it’s a momentous case for the ECHR, this isn’t the first time people have attempted to bring authorities to justice for climate inaction – and won. 

Last summer, a group of young activists arguing that the state of Montana had violated their right to a clean and healthy environment won the first ever case finding a US state guilty of breaking its constitution over climate impacts.

The results of more climate change cases involving constitutional and human rights violations are likely to be seen in the future. According to Climate Case Chart, a website that keeps a database of climate change litigation, there have been 146 suits against governments outside of the US concerning climate change and human rights, many of which are still pending a decision.

Only time will tell if the ECHR’s ruling will have a trickle-down effect – or make big waves – in such cases.