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STORY: Stefanie Brander is one of the more than 2,000 women over 64 who won a court case against Switzerland after they took their country to court over its climate inaction.

Europe's top human rights court in Strasbourg ruled on Tuesday (April 9) that the Swiss government had violated the rights of its citizens by failing to do enough to combat global warming.

“We weren't taken seriously by the authorities, that's what the verdict of the court shows. And I think that was the big mistake.

Known in German as KlimaSeniorinnen, the Swiss women who initiated the case said their government's inaction put them at risk of dying during heatwaves.

They argued their age and gender made them particularly vulnerable, and demanded that Switzerland design its climate policy in a way that would limit global warming to 1.5 C.

“We can say for 2050 we want to be a carbon-free country. Ok, but how? Who’s controlling and correcting this? These are questions that need to be put on the table now and that’s what we want. We will keep an eye on this, we will stay mobilised, we will ensure that measures are taken.”

The Swiss Federal Office of Justice said it would analyze the ruling to determine the measures needed.

Switzerland is warming at more than twice the global rate and its glaciers are melting rapidly.

In 2021, Bern outlined a plan to make deeper emissions cuts, but voters rebuffed it because it was viewed as too burdensome.

In a country where women were granted the right to vote in 1971, much later than most other European countries, Brander pointed to lingering attitudes about older women.

"Old women are made to look after little children, to knit, etc. This is still a very deeply rooted cliché in the Swiss mentality. It's not a coincidence that we waited so long to obtain our civil rights."