ISTANBUL
Whenever Elisabeth Stern and her fellow activists gather for a protest, they invariably catch quite a lot of attention.
That stems less from the topic they address – climate change – and more from who they are themselves.
Stern is a member of KlimaSeniorinnen, or the Senior Women for Climate Protection Switzerland, a group that is literally what their name suggests: a collective of older Swiss women who have joined the global fight for action against climate change.
Founded in 2016, the group has over 2,300 members today who boast an average age of 73, defying stereotypes and embodying the power of experience.
Stern, one of KlimaSeniorinnen’s nine board members, is 74. Her journey in climate activism began with her personal experience while working in Zimbabwe in the early 1990s.
“I was doing fieldwork in Zimbabwe in the ‘90s … and that’s when it was clear to me that something needed to be done,” she told Anadolu in a Zoom interview.
“There was an old man, a farmer, who showed me the dams, saying that ‘look they’re only one-third full, and we haven’t had rain in three years, and the weather is really changing, and so on.’ So when I came home after two years working in Zimbabwe, it was clear to me I could not just go back to my university job.”
She switched over to a small environmental company dedicated to supporting solar energy startups, but her path quickly led her to the forefront of a global crisis.
In KlimaSeniorinnen, she found a collective offering a sense of connection with like-minded individuals, united in their commitment to combat climate change.
The group has risen to international prominence with its push to compel the Swiss government to take decisive action.
Accusing the government of violating their right to health through inadequate climate policies, KlimaSeniorinnen has taken their battle to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), marking an unprecedented milestone as the court hears its first-ever case examining the impact of climate change on human rights.
“KlimaSeniorinnen is accusing the government of not doing enough against climate change. Climate change is happening, and it is the duty of the government to protect its citizens from such threats … the government has to do something and it’s not doing enough,” Stern said.
Relentless fight for justice
The ECHR, though, was not the first stop: KlimaSeniorinnen went to three different courts in Switzerland but found no space for their grievances.
“We took the Swiss government to court first within Switzerland. You can only go to the ECHR in Strasbourg when you have sort of used up all the national possibilities, and we did that,” she said.
“We have three national courts, and each one of them dismissed us on different reasons.”
Stern and her colleagues have a kind of conviction that only comes with having something personal at stake.
“You can only take your government to court when you are yourself affected, and older women are more affected than anyone else in the population,” she explained.
“Older women can take the heat less well than older men. Men sweat more; they can bring the heat away from their bodies. Women, for some physiological reason, cannot, so they are more likely to have health issues. More older women die during heat waves.”
For Stern and her fellow activists, climate protection is a fundamental human right that deserves a place within the European Human Rights Convention, which came into force in 1953 to safeguard the rights of people in Council of Europe member states.
“Because we were turned down three times within Switzerland, we thought, okay, climate protection is a human right, it must be officially considered a human right,” she said.
“And the court in Strasbourg is the one place where we hope … they are going to pass a judgement outside any ideology, just based on science.”
For the ‘last generation’
In its ongoing battle, KlimaSeniorinnen has a clear objective.
“We want the government to do better, to have more ambitious goals, more ambitious targets,” said Stern.
That, she added, is key for a better future, both for the older generation and the young.
“Many of the young people consider themselves as ‘the last generation,’ which must be a terrible feeling,” said Stern.
“But they feel inspired by us … they are happy that we old ones are joining the fight.”
The group is optimistic that the European court will give “a verdict by the end of this year” and rule in their favor, but also pragmatic about the possibility that the decision could go the other way.
“We (Switzerland) are part of the Council of Europe, together with 46 other states. The court in Strasbourg is binding. Whatever they decide for us will also affect other states,” said Stern.
“They have a tremendous responsibility on their shoulders. It’s going to be a historic verdict by the court, whether it’s yes or whether it’s no.”
Come what may, KlimaSeniorinnen and its members will keep taking a stand for climate justice, Stern asserted.
“Taking your government to court is not an easy thing to do. The process is very expensive and you need a lot of patience. We started in 2016 and now we are in 2023, and we are still waiting,” she said.
“But we will go on. We, old women, we might have health problems, but in our heads, we are fit. And many of them were activists all their lives. They have been out on the streets on so many issues. They are used to it, so we will stay.”
