欧洲央行-法律工作文件系列-人权、气候紧急情况和金融体系（英）

Legal Working Paper Series Human rights, the climate emergency, and the financial system Reflections on the relevance of the KlimaSeniorinnen ruling for Union institutions and the European financial sector. Daniel Segoin Martina Menegat Marguerite O’Connell No 23 / November 2025 Disclaimer: This publication should not be reported as representing the views of the European Central Bank (ECB). The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the ECB. Human rights, the climate emergency, and the financial system 1 Contents Abstract 2 Executive summary 3 1 Introduction 6 2 Climate rulings of the European Court of Human Rights 8 2.1 Overview of the cases 8 2.2 Key findings 10 3 Human rights and climate change: perspectives of international courts and tribunals beyond Europe 17 3.1 Advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice 19 Box: The Paris Agreement: legal nature and enforceability 21 3.2 Advisory opinion of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) 23 4 Relevance for the Union and its institutions 25 4.1 Substantive considerations: Relevance for the Union’s climate policies 26 4.2 Procedural considerations: Avenues for litigation before the CJEU 29 4.3 Relevance for the ECB and SSM 33 5 Relevance for the financial sector 37 5.1 Litigation risk 37 5.2 Transition risk 40 6 Conclusion 44 Bibliography 47 Human rights, the climate emergency, and the financial system 2 Abstract On 9 April 2024, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) delivered a landmark ruling in Verein KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz and Others v. Switzerland. The ruling was handed down together with two further rulings in Duarte Agostinho and others v. Portugal and others, and in Carême v. France. The ruling marked the first time the ECtHR held that insufficient climate action by a state constitutes a violation of human rights under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). While primarily having an impact on Switzerland as a defending State, the ruling is expected to indirectly affect the legal order of the European Union and its institutions. Moreover, the findings of the ECtHR have been reinforced by recent advisory opinions of other international courts and tribunals, in particular the opinion of the International Court of Justice, handed down on 23 July 2025. This paper first recalls the key facts and outcomes from each of the three ECtHR climate rulings and explores the key findings in greater detail. Second, the paper outlines the climate rulings of other international courts and tribunals. Thereafter, the paper explains the relevance of the KlimaSeniorinnen ruling for the Union and its institutions. First, as a matter of substance, the paper explains how the ruling carries lessons for the ambition and implementation of the climate policies of the Union and its Member States. Second, the paper goes on to explore the procedural avenues for litigants to bring an action before the Court of Justice of the European U