Agriculture Shifts From Climate-Change Culprit To Victim In New Lawsuit

(MENAFN- Swissinfo) Agriculture is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions. But it is also one of the sectors most affected by climate change. A lawsuit in Switzerland could prompt farmers around the world to sue their governments for climate inaction. This content was published on April 28, 2025 - 09:00 10 minutes

I cover climate change and energy through reportages, articles, interviews and in-depth reports. I am interested in the impacts of global warming on everyday life and solutions for an emission-free planet. Passionate about travel and discovery, I studied biology and other natural sciences. I have been a journalist for SWI swissinfo for more than 20 years.

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Farmers know how to make their voices heard. They block roads with tractors or dump piles of manure in cities to express their discontent. Last year, farmers' protests erupted against environmental policies, rising production costs and international competition in many European countries, including Switzerland.

However, a group of Swiss farmers has chosen another way – albeit a less spectacular, but no less effective, one – to express their dissatisfaction.

Nine farmers and five small agricultural associations from various cantons have launched a lawsuit against Swiss authoritiesExternal link , accusing them of not doing enough for the climate and jeopardising their existence. The lawsuit is pending before the Federal Administrative Court.

Climate lawsuits are on the rise around the worldExternal link , growing from 2,540 in 2023 to almost 2,900 in 2024. More and more individuals and associations are turning to the courts to denounce the inadequacy of governments' climate policies or to assess the responsibility of fossil fuel companies for their CO2 emissions. Agribusiness, and livestock farms in particular, have also been targeted, as seen in Denmark, the United States, and New ZealandExternal link .

What's different with the Swiss case compared to other climate lawsuits is that the suit is being filed by the farmers themselves. Until now agribusiness had been considered one of the culprits of climate change.

Animal farmers are generally framed as climate polluters who should be held liable for the impact their emissions have on global warming, Emily Bradeen, a policy analyst at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, writes in an email to SWI swissinfo.

The farmers' lawsuit in Switzerland“is interesting because it is turning the tables on this framing by arguing that farmers can also be the victims of climate change,” she says.

Charlotte E. Blattner, an associate professor of public and environmental law at the University of Lausanne, also sees this initiative as a paradigm shift.“It marks a big change in how farmers position themselves on environmental issues,” she says.

Meat and dairy production generates about 15% of global man-made emissions, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). This is mostly in the form of methane, a potent greenhouse gas produced by the metabolism of cattle and other ruminants.

The Federation of Young Farmers block the crossing of E42 Motorway from Germany to France and E411 Highway from Brussels to Luxembourg highway in Daussoulx, Namur, Belgium, January 29, 2024. Keystone Farmer's incomes reduced due to climate change

Agriculture is particularly vulnerable to global warmingExternal link . Higher temperatures, more frequent droughts and more intense extreme weather events reduce yields. Warmer weather encourages the spread of pests, while increased atmospheric CO2 concentration reduces agricultural productivity.

“We adapt as we can, but there are limits beyond which we cannot go. If summers with 40°C [104°F] were to multiply, nothing will grow anymore,” Yves Batardon, a Geneva-based winemaker, told Le TempsExternal link newspaper. The drought of 2022 caused him to lose tens of thousands of francs.

Batardon is one of the plaintiffs in the climate lawsuit filed against Swiss authorities. In March 2024, he and other farmers asked the environment ministry to take the necessary steps to ensure that Switzerland meets its national and international commitments to reduce emissions. The Swiss government ratified the Paris Climate Agreement in 2017 and set a goal of a net-zero emissions balance by 2050.

The Lawyers for ClimateExternal link association, which represents the farmers in the lawsuit, argues that the ministry's climate policy is insufficient and undermines farmers' economic freedom and the guarantee of their private property. The plaintiffs claim that drought, heavy rains and hail have caused losses of between 10% and 40% of their income over the past three years.

Their case cites a 2023 reportExternal link of the International Energy Agency, which shows that Switzerland is among the worst carbon-emitting countries in the world (14 tonnes per capita compared to a global average of 6). The plaintiffs also refer to a Swiss reportExternal link that predicts“increasingly frequent and prolonged drought phases precisely when temperatures and water requirements for agriculture are high.”

“Farmer's livelihoods, their ways of life and their contributions to food security are all on the line with increasing extreme weather events,” says Corina Heri, an assistant professor of constitutional and administrative law at Tilburg University in the Netherlands.

The argument of the Lawyers for Climate builds on other cases that have led courts to recognise the responsibility of governments to protect citizens from the impacts of climate change. These include the case of the KlimaSeniorinnen association, which won a historic victory at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in 2024.

Read more on why Switzerland needs to do more to comply with the ECHR ruling in the 'Climate Seniors ' case:

More More European court climate ruling: Swiss making progress but must do more

This content was published on Mar 7, 2025 Switzerland has made progress implementing the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) landmark verdict that condemns Swiss climate inaction. But more work must be done.

Read more: European court climate ruling: Swiss making progress but must do mor

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