In this Women’s Agenda article, a group of more than 2000 Swiss women have taken their government to court claiming its failure to act on climate change is a violation of their human rights. We will watch this process closely.
Older Swiss women take their government to court over climate policies [Extract]
The women, who are in a group called the Club of Climate Seniors, have an average age of 73. They claim their government’s failure to act adequately on climate change is putting their human rights and health at risk. The case is the first lawsuit on climate change to be heard by the European Court of Human Rights.
The women are asking the court to “correct the course of Swiss climate policy because the current climate targets and measures are not sufficient to limit global warming to a safe level”.
The group said they are standing up for the protection of their fundamental rights, including their right to life and health. These rights are protected in the European Conventions on Human Rights, which Switzerland ratified in 1974.
“Ever-more frequent and acute extreme heat events due to human-induced climate change particularly endanger the health and lives of older women. Because case law dictates that only particularly affected groups can file an application, the Senior Women for Climate Protection’s application is restricted to women of retirement age,” the group’s website states.
“The fact that senior women in particular suffer from the increasingly frequent and acute heat waves is confirmed by reports and studies by the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN), the Federal Office for Civil Protection (FOCP) and the Swiss Academy of Sciences.
“In the Global Risks Report published annually by the World Economic Forum (WEF), extreme weather events are among the most likely risks of all for humanity.”
The European Court of Human Rights has never ruled on a case related to climate change, which means this case could set a legal precendent. It could play an integral role in holding other governments accountable for their domestic climate change policies.
According to the Climate Action Tracker, Switzerland’s policies to reduce emissions are not considered to be consistent with the Paris climate agreement to keep global warming to 1.5°C.
The case comes as the latest IPCC report on climate change indicated the world’s current approach to climate action is insufficient to secure a liveable future. It said the choices we make this decade are critical to current and future generations.
(Source article and photo credit: https://womensagenda.com.au/latest/older-swiss-women-take-their-government-to-court-over-climate-policies/)
Associate Professor Magdalena Simonis AM is the Immediate Past President of the AFMW (2020-2023), former President of VMWS (2013 & 2017-2020) and current AFMW National Coordinator (2024-2026). She is a full time clinician who also holds positions on several not for profit organisations, driven by her passion for bridging gaps across the health sector. She is a leading women’s health expert, keynote speaker, climate change and gender equity advocate and government advisor. Magda is member of The Australian Health Team contributing monthly articles.
Magdalena was awarded a lifetime membership of the RACGP for her contributions which include past chair of Women in General Practice, longstanding contribution to the RACGP Expert Committee Quality Care, the RACGP eHealth Expert Committee. She is regularly invited to comment on primary care research though mainstream and medical media and contributes articles on various health issues through newsGP and other publications.
Magdalena has represented the RACGP at senate enquiries and has worked on several National Health Framework reviews. She is author of the RACGP Guide on Female Genital Cosmetic Surgery and co-reviewer of the RACGP Red Book Women’s Health Chapter, and reviewer of the RACGP White book
Both an RACGP examiner and University examiner, she undertakes general practice research and is a GP Educator with the Safer Families Centre of Research Excellence, which develops education tools to assist the primary care sector identify, respond to and manage family violence . Roles outside of RACGP include the Strategy and Policy Committee for Breast Cancer Network Australia, Board Director of the Melbourne University Teaching Health Clinics and the elected GP representative to the AMA Federal Council. In 2022. she was award the AMA (Vic) Patrick Pritzwald-Steggman Award 2022, which celebrates a doctor who has made an exceptional contribution to the wellbeing of their colleagues and the community and was listed as Women’s Agenda 2022 finalist for Emerging Leader in Health.
Magdalena has presented at the United Nations as part of the Australian Assembly and was appointed the Australian representative to the World Health Organisation, World Assembly on COVID 19, by the Medical Women’s International Association (MWIA) in 2021. In 2023, A/Professor Simonis was included on the King’s COVID-19 Champion’s list and was also awarded a Member (AM) in the General Division for significant service to medicine through a range of roles and to women’s health.
