Women’s Health Rights can Guide International Climate Litigation: KlimaSeniorinnen v. Switzerland before the European Court of Human Rights

All over the world, individuals are taking governments to court for their role in climate change, or rather, their “climate inaction”. The 2022 Global Trends in Climate Change Litigation Policy Report shows that strategic litigation cases to enforce climate laws and policies have doubled since 2015. On 29 March 2023, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) heard its first climate case: KlimaSeniorinnen v. Switzerland. A group of senior women is suing Switzerland for failing to protect them from the harms of climate change. This case is likely the first climate case ever to be decided by a human rights court and is important for two reasons. First, it centers around health rights. Second, it is a case involving women’s health. It shows how women’s health rights could guide international climate litigation.