Perhaps you have heard about this case. Back in 2016, a group of senior Swiss women calling themselves KlimaSeniorinnen (roughly “climate-concerned senior women”) filed suit against the Swiss government. They said their health was threatened by heat waves, made worse by the climate crisis, and the Swiss government was obligated to take steps to deal with the climate crisis, in order to protect their health. The Swiss courts rejected their case and, in 2020, the KlimaSeniorinnen took it to the European Court of Human Rights. In April of 2024, they won.

At a SSAFE (Senior Stewards Acting For the Environment) meeting on Thursday, one of the women involved in bringing this case, Dr. Elisabeth Stern, will be interviewed by SSAFE’s Michelle Goodwin. It should be interesting.

We don’t yet know how the Swiss government will respond to losing this case. Will there be lessons for other governments, including ours? Is a case like this something that SSAFE should consider?

This differs from the cases filed in this country on behalf of young people trying to protect themselves from future climate harm. The KlimaSeniorinnen argued that their health is being adversely impacted by climate change right now.

If you are intrigued by the possibilities, you will want to join this Zoom event.

If you are not yet a SSAFE member, start by joining (it’s free) at this link: https://ssafe.app.neoncrm.com/forms/new-ssafe-member-sign-up-form

SSAFE members need to register for the event here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAtc-GgqT0vE92dECjmNgVQypnjcDn6whtk