Thread by @DimitriosGian

A historic judgment

“Inadequate state action to combat climate change exacerbate[s] the risks of harmful consequences and subsequent threats for the enjoyment of human rights”

@KlimaSeniorin #echr @gardencourtlaw @MatrixChambers @GoldsmithsLaw @JMPSimor @andrew_cutting

European Court of Human Rights: it is “a matter of fact that there are sufficiently reliable indications that anthropogenic climate change exists … States are aware of this and capable of taking measures to address it effectively”.

States’ “legal obligations” extend not only to “ those individuals currently alive” but also to “ future generations [which] are likely to bear an increasingly severe burden of the consequences of present, failure and omissions to combat climate change”.

Article 8 protects us all from the effects of climate change:

“Article 8 of the Convention encompasses a right for individuals to effective protection … from the serious adverse effects of climate change on their lives, health, well-being, and quality of life”.

#echr #climate

What must states do now: take action to prevent “increase in GHG concentrations in the Earth’s atmosphere and a rise in global average temperature beyond levels capable of producing serious and irreversible adverse effects on human rights under Article 8”.

States must “reduce GHG emission levels … with a view to reaching net neutrality, in principle within the next three decades”.

#echr @coe @PACE_News @echrnews @FCorner

The Court finds that there has been a violation of Article 8 of the Convention. Switzerland had exceeded its margin of appreciation, failing to comply with its duties to protect the @KlimaSeniorin applicants from the harmful effects of climate change upon their human rights.

Article 8 now generates a duty for states to take the required measures to protect us all from the effects of climate change!

@conorgearty @colmocinneide @EdBatesECHR @dzehtsiarou @AileenFKavanagh @PhilipLeach5 @WomaninHavana @StevePeers @AdamWagner1 @sfhosali @alicedonald