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.