24/7 Space News
CLIMATE SCIENCE
Swiss govt denounces landmark European court climate ruling
Swiss govt denounces landmark European court climate ruling
by AFP Staff Writers
Geneva (AFP) Aug 28, 2024

The Swiss government on Wednesday denounced a landmark verdict against Switzerland issued by Europe's top rights court, which ruled that the country was not doing enough to tackle climate change.

The ruling by the European Court of Human Rights in April made Switzerland the first country ever to be condemned by an international tribunal for not taking sufficient action to tackle the issue.

The court found the Swiss state had violated Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which guarantees the "right to respect for private and family life".

The case was brought by the Swiss association Elders for Climate Protection, a group of 2,500 women aged 73 on average.

The organisation wants climate protection to be recognised as a human right and said the Swiss authorities' failure to mitigate the effects of climate change was having a negative impact on their lives and health.

Switzerland's biggest political party, the hard-right Swiss People's Party, demanded a withdrawal from the Council of Europe after the ruling.

And both houses of parliament later voted to spurn the court's decision.

The Swiss government discussed the verdict and its implications on Wednesday.

The government "is committed to Switzerland's membership of the Council of Europe and to the system of the European Convention on Human Rights", it said in a statement.

The council and the convention, "whose fundamental values include the protection of human rights, democracy and the rule of law, remain of great importance to Switzerland".

However, like the houses of parliament, the government "is critical of the interpretation" of the convention "with regard to climate protection".

The government said it rejected the broad interpretation of the convention by the court, and said case law "must not lead to an extension of the scope" of the convention.

"It is also of the opinion that Switzerland meets the climate policy requirements of the ruling."

It said the court had not taken into account Switzerland's revised carbon dioxide laws of March 15 this year, in which Bern "defined measures to achieve its 2030 climate targets".

Elders for Climate Protection and Greenpeace Switzerland slammed the government's stance, saying they were insisting on "maintaining climate policy that violates human rights".

The government "refuses to admit that its arguments have been refuted" by the court verdict and "provides no scientific evidence to justify its position", they said in a joint statement.

"So far, Switzerland has not been able to provide concrete figures for its national carbon budget."

Switzerland voters approved a law in June aimed at accelerating the development of renewable energies, as part of the country's bid to attain carbon neutrality by 2050.

It aims to boost wind and solar power's current miniscule contribution to Switzerland's energy mix and rapidly increase hydro production so the wealthy landlocked country is less dependent on imported electricity.

Related Links
Climate Science News - Modeling, Mitigation Adaptation

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters
Tweet

RELATED CONTENT
The following news reports may link to other Space Media Network websites.
CLIMATE SCIENCE
EU faces legal challenge over 'grossly inadequate' climate goals
Brussels, Belgium (AFP) Aug 27, 2024
Green activists on Tuesday said they were taking the European Union to court over "insufficient" climate targets, accusing Brussels of violating a key global agreement. CAN Europe and Global Legal Action Network (GLAN) said in legal written arguments to a top EU court that the 27-country bloc's targets for emissions from agriculture, waste, small industry and transport were "grossly inadequate". "The EU's overall climate ambition remains alarmingly off-track from the 1.5-degree Celsius limit of ... read more

CLIMATE SCIENCE
Relationships with Space Colonists

Blue Origin's NS-26 launch set for August 29 with six crew members

Lessons from Amazon and FedEx can inform satellite and spacecraft management

SpaceX will bring stranded Boeing Starliner crew home in February

CLIMATE SCIENCE
SpaceX cleared to fly Falcon 9 rocket after landing mishap

SpaceX Polaris Dawn launch pushed back after helium leak

Boeing's Starliner: a saga marked by setbacks

Flawed Boeing mission crew to return to Earth with rival SpaceX

CLIMATE SCIENCE
Study identifies key materials for shielding astronauts from Mars radiation

The means for mapping Martian meteorites

Western researchers help identify origins of Martian meteorites

Rocket Lab Prepares Twin Satellites for NASA Mars Mission Launch

CLIMATE SCIENCE
Shenzhou-18 Crew Tests Fire Alarms and Conducts Medical Procedures in Space

Astronauts on Tiangong Space Station Complete Fire Safety Drill

Shenzhou XVIII Crew Conducts Emergency Drill on Tiangong Space Station

Beijing Unveils 'Rocket Street' to Boost Commercial Space Sector

CLIMATE SCIENCE
SpaceSight Tool by Scout Space Integrated into Saber Astronautics' Space Marketplace

Kenneth Possenriede Joins Rocket Lab Board of Directors

Sateliot Advances Towards Commercialization Following Launch of Four New Satellites

Apex Unveils GEO Aries Satellite Bus for Geostationary Missions

CLIMATE SCIENCE
Salsa Satellite's reentry to be observed live from the sky

Cluster concludes with controlled reentry over South Pacific

Beyond Gravity joins MDA AURORATM supply chain with constellation computers

How students learn to fly NASA's IXPE spacecraft

CLIMATE SCIENCE
SETI launches low-frequency search for extraterrestrial technology in distant galaxies

Locked in a glacier, viruses adapted to survive extreme weather

Citizen scientists confirm new warm Jovian-class exoplanet

The evolution of the Trappist-1 planetary system

CLIMATE SCIENCE
Juice trajectory reset with historic Lunar-Earth flyby

NASA's Juno Mission Maps Jupiter's Radiation Using Danish Technology

Juice captures striking image of Moon during flyby

Ariel's Carbon Dioxide Indicates Potential Subsurface Ocean on Uranus' Moon

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.