Switzerland stays under supervision and needs to report back – this is what the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe has decided in their second review of the case of KlimaSeniorinnen v. Switzerland. Switzerland has still not credibly implemented the central requirement of the ruling for a CO2 budget compatible with a 1.5°C limit. The KlimaSeniorinnen and Greenpeace urge Switzerland to provide a credible response and demonstrate how its current policies align with the landmark ruling by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) at the next Committee of Ministers meeting.  

The ECtHR’s historic April 2024 judgment in the case of ‘Verein Klimaseniorinnen vs. Switzerland’ ruled that Switzerland must do more to protect human rights from the adverse effects of climate change. A core requirement of the ruling was for Switzerland to ensure its CO2 emissions are aligned with its fair share of the global carbon budget necessary to limit global warming to 1.5°C.

Switzerland has yet to satisfy this requirement. Instead of defining a national CO2 budget based on a global budget using best available science, the country’s submission calculates emissions based on its existing policies unchanged since the release of the judgment in 2024, calling this an implicit carbon budget. This figure, amounting to 620 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions for the years 2021 to 2050, is, according to Switzerland, representing 0.33% of the remaining global budget für 1.5°C (50% probability), although Switzerland represents only 0.11% of the global population. In addition, scientists have confirmed to the Committee that the planned emissions by Switzerland will far exceed any national budget that could be derived from the remaining global budget for respecting the 1.5°C target.

In their submissions to the Committee of Ministers, 34 civil society organisations, the Swiss Human Rights Institution, and the UN Special Rapporteur on Climate Change and Human Rights, Prof. Elisa Morgera, all highlighted this clear discrepancy. 

While the Committee of Ministers emphasises that Switzerland has a binding obligation to ensure the effectiveness of the measure to ensure human protection using a global approach, it did not further insist on the submission of a carbon budget to stay within the maximum of 1.5°C of warming. Instead, the Committee invites Switzerland to establish a national body to self-monitor progress. Such a national body could make sense if its mandate, similar to that of the European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change, includes revising Swiss climate policy to comply with the remaining global CO2 budget for 1.5°C. The organisations stress that such a body does not relieve the Committee of Ministers of its duty to ensure that Switzerland implements all parts of the ECtHR judgment and protects the KlimaSeniorinnen’s human rights from the adverse effects of climate change.

Rosmarie Wydler-Wälti, Co-President of KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz, on the Committee of Ministers‘ decision: ’We demand that the well-founded judgment of the ECtHR is not watered down by politicians. We wonder what else it will take for countries to realise that climate change is not a left-right issue. With every year that passes, climate-related disasters and damage will continue to increase.‘

Georg Klingler, climate expert at Greenpeace Switzerland, adds: ’Further monitoring must ensure that the most important requirement of the ruling is met. All 46 Council of Europe Member States remain bound by their climate obligations under the European Convention of Human Rights, as clarified in this landmark ruling.’  

The implementation of ECtHR rulings is regularly reviewed by the Committee of Ministers, the 46 foreign ministers of the Council of Europe member States, most recently from 15 to 17 September 2025 at the 1537th (Human Rights) meeting of the Ministers‘ Deputies in Strasbourg.

More Information

Contacts

  • Cordelia Bähr, Lawyer of Senior Women for Climate Protection Switzerland: [email protected], +41 78 801 70 34
  • Rosmarie Wydler-Wälti, co-president of Senior Women for Climate Protection Switzerland: [email protected],  +41 61 302 96 35 (for interviews in German)
  • Anne Mahrer, co-president of Senior Women for Climate Protection Switzerland: [email protected], +41 79 249 72 17 (for interviews in French)
  • Elisabeth Stern, member of the board of Senior Women for Climate Protection Switzerland: [email protected], +41 79 351 22 00
  • Pia Hollenstein, member of the board of Senior Women for Climate Protection Switzerland: [email protected], +41 79 740 04 50
  • Norma Bargetzi, member of the board of Senior Women for Climate Protection Switzerland: [email protected], +41 79 352 98 89 (for interviews in Italian)
  • Georg Klingler, Climate Expert Greenpeace Switzerland: [email protected], +41 79 785 07 38

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