Switzerland’s lower house of Parliament is voting on Wednesday whether to reject an order by the European Court of Human Rights demanding the country step up efforts to fight climate change in what could be an unprecedented move in Europe. The court ruled in April that Switzerland had violated the right to respect for private and family life of Swiss elderly women because it has failed to implement sufficient measures to combat climate change.
Switzerland, while not a member of the European Union, is part of the Council of Europe and one of the 46 signatories of the European Convention on Human Rights. The court ruling in April is the first such regional judgment, which sets a precedent for all signatories of the convention. Switzerland, however, has been defiant toward the ruling so far. A parliamentary committee has rejected the ruling, while the upper house slammed the court’s “judicial activism”.