Elderly woman to sue Bern at European court for ‘climate lockdown’

Geneva — Last summer while dozens of Swiss pensioners were campaigning in the Alps to save their fast-melting glaciers, 85-year-old Marie-Eve Volkoff was instead stuck inside her small Geneva apartment watching pre-recorded TV programmes.

Her frustration with what she calls “climate lockdown” is part of her motivation for suing the Swiss government alongside more than 2,000 other elderly women in the first climate case before the European Court of Human Rights this week. The submission, set to be followed by two more this year, could result in an emissions cut order that goes beyond even the 2015 Paris Agreement commitments, setting an important precedent.

Switzerland’s punishing triple heatwaves in 2022 compelled Volkoff to stay at home for 11 weeks with just short outings that she says was worse than Covid-19 and a violation of her human rights.

“I have had to enormously restrict my activities, to wait, with the blinds down and the air conditioning on (shame for an ecologist!) for the heatwave to pass, allowing me to go back to normal life,” she wrote in a letter to her fellow activists entitled “A little tale from climate lockdown.”

Volkoff, who formerly worked as a volunteer and social worker and enjoys Tai Chi, theatre and swimming in Lake Geneva, says that her confinement was necessary due to a cardiovascular illness.

Her medical documents, which form part of the case’s legal backbone, showed she has an irregular heart beat that worsens during hot weather obliging her to double her medication and lie down.

Before buying an air conditioner in 2019, Volkoff said she used to hover near her bed for fear of passing out.

“I am fighting for my life and for my quality of life. Why do I fight? Because it’s only going to get worse and, if the government is as languid as it is now, it won’t sort itself out,” she said, describing Swiss action to date as “shameful”.

Some of the other women in the case described shortness of breath, nausea and even loss of consciousness during heatwaves, which are becoming more frequent due to climate change. One said she felt she would “melt into the concrete” when out walking on a hot day. Others sought refuge in their cellars.

Slow politics, strong lobbies

Switzerland’s policies to date are deemed “insufficient” by Climate Action Tracker, a website which monitors states’ action on global warming. Bern outlined a plan to cut emissions further in 2021, but voters rebuffed it as too burdensome.

The Swiss government declined to comment on the case. It told the court that the changes to the women’s lives during heatwaves, such as  staying at home, were “quite common” and that everyone, including plants and animals, was affected.

More broadly, Switzerland said it recognises that climate change is a problem for the country where temperatures are rising about twice the global rate. But it says solutions need to be found at home.

Anne Mahrer, co-president of the association Senior Women for Climate Protection, which is an applicant in the case in its own right alongside Volkoff, said her years as a former politician persuaded her to pursue another route.

“Politics is very slow,” she said. “Proposals pass from one chamber to another and the lobbies are very strong.”

Frustration drove one father to do a long hunger strike outside parliament and other climate activists to launch civil disobedience campaigns.

Observers acknowledge that it may be difficult to prove the women’s suffering is the result of climate change, rather than something else. Local courts have rejected their arguments twice during the six-year legal battle.

Strasbourg has fast-tracked the hearing, meaning judges are set to make a decision within a year instead of the usual three. But due to the advanced age of the Swiss women (73 on average), several dozen of them have already died.

“I might no longer be here when the decision comes, but at least I did what I could,” said Volkoff.

Reuters