The Swiss ladies who won in Strasbourg in their fight for the climate: “They ridiculed us, they told us to go knitting”

“We have won, and decisively,” they proudly proclaim from the Swiss Association of Older Women for Climate, without forgetting the long road traveled and the obstacles they had to overcome. At the beginning, nine years ago, very few people took them seriously, not even the courts in their country. Where were these ladies with an average age of 73 years going, claiming in court that their country was not taking sufficient measures to comply with the Paris Agreement against climate change? “They ridiculed us for being older women, they told us to go to sleep, knit...,” recalls Rita Shirmer-Braun (74 years old), a member of the organization, who now hardly finds time to respond to requests for information. . Everything changed when this Tuesday the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), based in Strasbourg, agreed with them by determining that the Swiss Government fails to meet its own greenhouse emissions reduction targets, because they have not acted “in a timely manner.” and adequate to conceive, draft and implement relevant legislation and measures.”

“It is a huge victory that we did not expect and it is for the planet and for older women. We have achieved that climate protection is considered a human right,” Rosmarie Wydler-Wälti, co-president of the association, also 74 years old, happily describes. It was difficult to imagine it in the beginning. “The project started from Greenpeace and five women who didn't even know each other started,” she explains. From there, the initiative gained weight. When they founded the association, in August 2016, there were 150 and currently there are 2,600 members, all women and all over 64 years of age. Younger women and men, even if they do not have Swiss nationality, have the door open, but they can only register as supporters.

Creating a women's association was a mandatory condition, because in Switzerland legally the demand had to come from a group especially affected by climate change. “Men keep asking us how they can be partners, but it would be of no use if they were, because they cannot prove that they are at special risk; we, on the other hand, can,” replies the co-president. Greenpeace lawyers documented that intense and frequent heat waves affect older people more - the body has more difficulty regulating its temperature and more brain, vascular and respiratory problems occur - and especially women. Among the studies that show this fact is the one published last July, which estimates that 61,672 premature deaths occurred in 35 European countries due to the high temperatures recorded in the summer of 2022, the warmest on this continent since at least 1880. In addition, it is shown that there are 56% more deaths for this reason in women than in men.

Shirmer-Braun and Wayler-Wälti are among the pioneers, those who attended the first meetings of the association and who are now part of the board. What pushed you to do it? The first answers that it was his activism on environmental issues. “I've been doing it for 40 years, I was involved in the founding of the Greens party in Switzerland, with which I continue.” She was able to combine her work with taking care of her two daughters, whom she raised alone, who are now 38 and 44 years old and who support her “fully.”

His partner, Wydler-Wälti, was a member of the group the Grandmothers' Revolution (GrossmütterRevolution, in German). “We consider ourselves energetic women, who denounce that we dedicate millions of hours to taking care of children, the elderly, a job with little or no pay,” she says. Professionally, she was a kindergarten teacher and advisor to parents and associations until she retired, like most of the rest of the organization's components. She has four children and eight grandchildren, ages 20 to 2. “One of them sometimes came to the demonstrations and the older ones are not so interested. You can't ask so much of young people either, you can't simply prohibit and you have to keep in mind that they are surrounded by very affordable consumer goods, even a flight can be cheaper than walking arm in arm," she ironically.

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Rejection after rejection

The setbacks appeared since the association took the first step, when they complained to the Swiss State that it was not complying with its obligations regarding climate change. “They simply rejected our complaint without giving an answer,” Shirmer-Braun recalls. There began the pilgrimage through the courts. They went to the Federal Administrative Court, which dismissed them with the argument that “women were not affected by climate change and could not complain about it.” They went up to the next step and arrived at the Federal Court, which also did not accept the claim. “They ruled that there was still enough time to reach the two degrees and therefore act,” says Shirmer-Braun, who is still surprised by the argument. And that's when everything changed: “It was the signal. “We realized that we were not being taken seriously and it was decided to go to the ECtHR.” The European magistrates conclude that these assessments were correct because the country's courts "did not take into account the indisputable scientific data relating to climate change."

And now that? “Switzerland has received a slap in the face and this means that Swiss politicians have to do much more to combat the climate catastrophe,” says the co-president of the organization. But, in addition, "the rest of the European states now know that if they do not take into account what the citizens demand of them in this regard, they can go to Strasbourg, where they will be proven right." This possibility greatly bothers right-wing politicians, “who claim that the ruling comes from foreign judges [it came out ahead by 16 votes to one], but it is not true, because Switzerland is also represented,” says Shimer-Braun. “It's about our basic rights, our democratic rights, the possibility of taking the political route and the possibility of suing,” she adds. They cannot tell politicians “what to do,” but they hope to be “like a snowball that goes on and on.”

Like the good grandmothers they are, they “consoled” the young Portuguese who had filed a lawsuit before the ECHR against 32 European governments for not doing enough against climate change, which was dismissed the same day theirs came forward. The judges understood, among other things, that the Portuguese had not exhausted all legal avenues available in their country. “They knew it, of course, but going through that whole process takes a long time, and young people don't wait as long as older people. We told them that our victory is also for them, it is for everyone,” concludes Wylder-Wäti.

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