Amsterdam, Netherlands – Greenpeace International slammed Switzerland's newly unveiled National Action Report as woefully inadequate to remedy violations found in the landmark ruling in the KlimaSeniorinnen case by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). The Report claims that Switzerland can continue with its planned climate strategy, including emitting more than its fair share of global emissions, jeopardising current and future generations.
Louise Fournier, Legal Counsel at Greenpeace International said: "As we examine the Swiss action report, one thing is obvious: this is woefully insufficient. Switzerland's climate policies continue to be inadequate and fail to meet the demands of both the science and the law. They allow Switzerland, a small country that already emits disproportionately high levels of greenhouse gases in relation to its population size, to pollute far more than it should, avoiding its responsibility to current and future generations."
In April 2024, in a world first, the ECtHR ruled that a country's inadequate climate policies violate human rights. Switzerland was ordered to realign its emissions and establish a carbon budget in line with 1.5°C.[1] Last week, however, Switzerland presented its "Action Report" to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, claiming it already complies with the ruling[2].
Greenpeace argues that the Swiss government deliberately disregards the science and the human rights impacts of its climate policies. Switzerland's Action Report merely reiterates pre-existing climate plans, criticising the ECtHR judgement while presenting a CO2 budget that reflects allowable emissions under its current trajectory without addressing whether these levels are compatible with the 1.5°C limit. In refusing to adapt its climate policies to comply with the European Court of Human Rights' ruling, Switzerland knowingly infringes on people's human rights and is shaping its climate policy at the expense of present and future generations, says the campaign group.
Greenpeace International is now urging the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe to ensure that Switzerland takes the judgement of the highest European human rights court seriously and enacts a plan that actually reduces greenhouse gas emissions based on the best available science.
