Following the European Court of Human Rights' (ECHR) ruling condemning Switzerland for its flawed climate policy, one Brussels nature organisation has initiated a lawsuit against the Region for failing to adapt to the effects of climate change.
Tuesday's landmark ruling marked the first time ever that the ECHR condemned a country for climate inaction. According to the Court, Switzerland's policy violates the human rights of a group of Swiss senior citizens who brought the case forward.
The Swiss senior citizens' movement 'Elders for the Protection of the Swiss Climate' believed that the Swiss Government's climate policy violated several articles of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Court vindicated the seniors, stating that the right to life harbours the right to "effective protection by the State against the serious effects of climate change on life, health, well-being and quality of life." Switzerland is now obliged to take action.
The ruling sets a precedent for further climate justice cases, both before the ECHR and in numerous national courts. In Belgium, this was already the case on Tuesday, when environmental collective 'We Are Nature.Brussels' launched a regional trial "on the legal basis for this historic breakthrough"
"We welcome this landmark decision, which confirms the relevance of strategic climate litigation in asserting citizens' rights against states that fail to act responsibly to halt climate change," the organisation noted. "Based on this text, we initiated a lawsuit against the Brussels-Capital Region on adapting to the effects of climate change" – the first of its kind.
Vulnerable to climate change
The group has repeatedly stressed that the Brussels-Capital Region is not ready to deal with the effects of climate change. This has been mirrored by climate experts, who argue the window to protect urban residents is closing. Due to the 'urban heat island effect', the warmth is much more noticeable in Brussels than in surrounding rural areas.
Moreover, the mainly concrete surfaces in the region mean that, in the event of heavy precipitation, the surface run-off is exacerbated and water cannot infiltrate, causing heavy flooding.
Felled trees. Credit: Belga / Kurt Desplenter
The Region has repeatedly announced that it is preparing the capital for future challenges posed by global warming. For example, it is planting trees in concrete spaces, which also offer shade, and ensuring several public roads are soil-based to better manage rainwater. But the organisation warned that this is not enough, and that in some cases, the Region is even undoing measures aimed at urban adaptation.
"We Are Nature.Brussels and a growing number of Brussels citizens (more than 1,200 to date), note that the Region is not respecting its obligations and commitments to adapt to the effects of climate change," the organisation wrote.
"The Region is continuing to destroy natural areas, living soil and biodiversity, even though they are our best assets for coping with the effects of climate change, in particular the intensification of heatwaves and the heat island effect, episodes of air pollution and flooding, and their serious repercussions on people's health and lives."
With the latest case brought against the Region, the organisation hopes to obtain a moratorium on the issuing of authorisations to destroy these natural areas in the application of the articles of the European Convention on Human Rights relied on in the Swiss case. "The historic decision of the ECHR is undoubtedly a very favourable sign as to the relevance and chances of success of this trial."
