As if the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has irritated the Government enough, its latest ruling on the duty of the Swiss government to protect people from climate change has added more fuel to a fire that may lead to the UK’s exit from the organisation.

Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho (pictured) has reacted to the announcement wit the words: “I’m concerned by the Strasbourg Court decision. How we tackle climate change affects our economic, energy, and national security. Elected politicians are best placed to make those decisions.”

46 states are signatories, or every country in Europe except Belarus and the Russian Federation, which ceased to be party to the European Convention in 2022, but, of course, major polluters such as China, India and the US are not.

Although Switzerland is a very minor emitter and has pledged to reach net-zero by 2050, the implication of the ruling is that any country under the jurisdiction of the court could face legal action to accelerate change based on a single view of what actions should be.

The Court found the Swiss state had breached article eight of the European Convention on Human Rights, guaranteeing the “right to respect for private and family life”, and all 46 countries will now need to prepare for a raft of similar actions as the ruling affects all signatories to the convention and allow groups to sue for a breach of their human rights if environmental targets are not met, or are being met fast enough.

One dissenting judge noted: “I fear that in this judgment the majority has gone beyond what it is legitimate and permissible for this Court to do and, unfortunately, in doing so, may well have achieved exactly the opposite effect to what was intended."

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