Limmat river in Zurich old town © @ Didier Marti/Moment via Getty Images
Professor Jorge Viñuales has been featured in an article for WIRED magazine.
The article details a judgement by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg which has stated the Government of Switzerland has failed to do enough to meet the country's responsibilities regarding climate change, and, in addition, that the plaintiffs had been denied their right to a free trial in Switzerland.
The court chose not to hear another similar case, involving Portugal.
Professor Viñuales was asked to comment on what has been described as a landmark judgement. An extract from the article reads:
Jorge Viñuales at the University of Cambridge, who specializes in law and environmental policy, says it is notable that Switzerland has been found to have fallen foul of human rights legislation, despite the fact that the country has relatively good climate policies. He criticizes the ECHR’s decision not to admit the case brought by the Portuguese young people, however. Part of the court’s reasoning was that their case was targeted not just at Portugal but every EU member state and five other countries. “The court seems to misunderstand that the climate system is everywhere and that effective control over the source of harm is what should count,” says Viñuales.
