Rosmarie Wydler-Wälti (born 19 March 1950) is a Swiss

environmentalist Environmentalism is a broad Philosophy of life, philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of Green politics, g ...

from

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

. In April 2024, as co-president of the Swiss organization Klimaseniorinnen (Senior Women for Climate Protection) she succeeded in winning a case in the

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court hears applications alleging that a co ...

, arguing that Switzerland had failed to meet emission reduction targets in the face of increasing heatwaves. As a result, although the Swiss parliament later rejected the ruling, she was included on the BBC's 2024 list of 100 most inspiring and influential women.

Early life

Born on 19 March 1950 in Basel, Rosmarie Wydler-Wälti was raised in a middle-class district near the River Birs. She met her future husband, the councillor Christoph Wydler, in the choir at her local church. When 23, she became pregnant while working as a kindergarten teacher and spent the next 12 years raising her four children.

Activism

As interest in the anti-nuclear and feminist movements developed in the 1970s, she took part as an activist. She went on to demonstrate against Nestlés infant milk powder scandal and was later active in

Davos Davos (, ; or ; ; Old ) is an Alpine resort town and municipality in the Prättigau/Davos Region in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. It has a permanent population of (). Davos is located on the river Landwasser, in the Rhaetian ...

, protesting against the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental organization, international advocacy non-governmental organization and think tank, based in Cologny, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German ...

. Around 2010, she visited

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

as she developed an interest in

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

side-by-side with her belief in Christianity. In 2016, now a grandmother, she joined the Verein Grossmütterrevolution (Grandmothers' Revolution Association) which was invited by

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by a group of Environmental movement, environmental activists. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth to nurture life in all its biod ...

to sue the Swiss government for failing to meet climate protection targets. Together with 150 other women, she and created the association Senior Women for Climate Protection. After their suits failed in the Swiss courts, they filed a case with the European Court of Human Rights in

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

. In April 2924, now numbering some 2,000 women, the association won the case, achieving a historic victory. Surprised at the outcome, Wydler-Wälti commented: "We keep asking our lawyers, 'Is that right?' And they tell us, 'It’s the most you could have had. The biggest victory possible'". Although the lower house of the Swiss parliament voted on 12 June to disregard the ruling, the BBC concluded that "the case set a new precedent for climate litigation".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wydler-Walti, Rosmarie 1950 births Living people Swiss environmentalists Swiss women environmentalists People from Basel-Stadt