Red Hot and Righteously Angry

The Climate Lawsuit That Made the World Listen to “Old Women”

Not made to roll in a rocking chair, retired Swiss Parliamentarian Pia Hollenstein took up battle against the government she used to work for instead. Knowing that more older women die from extreme heat than any other group due to unique vulnerabilities, Hollenstein wondered what could be done? Raise a ruckus, protest in the streets, and sue the government, that’s what.

Gathering other red hot, righteously mad Swiss women, the KlimaSeniorinnen (Senior Women for Climate) became a lightning rod for change. A decade after filing their KlimaSeniorinnen vs. Switzerland suit, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in their favor in 2024 in a huge upset. They found that Switzerland had failed to protect older women—and that failure puts everyone at risk. But the results of their moving and shaking didn’t stop there.

On July 23, with a hat tip to the KlimaSeniorinnen, the United Nations’ International Court of Justice issued an advisory opinion that all nations must protect vulnerable groups, including older women, from the effects of extreme heat and climate warming.

Though I’m just 55, I regularly worry that potential employers will think I’m “too old” to hire, or—on a more practical level—that my neck wrinkles make me look 80. But who cares? These Swiss grandmothers believed they could make a difference, not despite their age but because of it.

In a culture that systematically erases, dismisses, and discriminates against older women, that’s a powerful mindshift. Not content to let society define how much they matter, or what they should or shouldn’t do in retirement, these bold, badass older women literally made the world better—and they commanded respect for fellow senior women.

“We won two things: the case and the court of public opinion,” said Hollenstein. “Before, they thought, ‘Oh, it doesn’t matter, these are only old women’ …[but] we made the [point that] we elderly women are important.”

Fighting for the Right Not to Die

“Many of these women were not initially aware that they had rights they could assert legally when it comes to inadequate protection of their life and health,” said Cordelia Bähr, the attorney who argued for the plaintiffs. “It was a process of empowerment.”

Hollenstein, now 74, helped form KlimaSeniorinnen, a nonprofit, in 2016, and now serves on the board. Its ranks grew to more than 3,000, and every woman who joined became a plaintiff, suing not for money but for results.

Scientists directly linked deaths of older women during European heat waves to climate change, which formed the basis of the KlimaSeniorinnen lawsuit. The reasons? Older women have less muscle, more fat, and thinner skin. Add that to the fact that older bodies sweat less, which means less cooling. In humid climates, even healthy people can die at temps as low as 87°F. Sweat can’t cool you if the outside air is a swamp.

“These are all premature deaths that wouldn’t have happened without the heat,” said Georg Klingler, climate campaigner for Greenpeace Switzerland. The idea to gather older women as an injured class of individuals was Klingler’s brainchild, and with eight more European heat waves since 2003, he added, “The science has become clearer and clearer.”

Kicking Butt, Handing Out Cookies, and Taking Names

As the case wound its way through Swiss courts, this unlikely group of feminists wasn’t content to merely serve as plaintiffs in a lawsuit. They protested, gave TED talks, and spawned similar groups across Europe, and recently, in the U.S.

“Instead of staying home getting depressed because everything’s going wrong,” Hollenstein said, “it’s better for me, personally, to do something.”

In 2017, the Swiss feministas got into “good trouble” at the World Economic Forum in Davos, which bans protest. But no one said they couldn’t hand out “Earth cookies.” The women also wrote messages like, “Responsible leaders don’t put lives at risk” and “Let us breathe” on white scarves.

When they unveiled the messages for passersby, “the police [tore] those scarves out of their hands,” said Klingler. They stopped the protest, but later, the feisty women kept telling him, “We should have gone to jail!”

And in May 2020, two of the women sailed the Rhine River on a Greenpeace vessel to symbolically present their case to the European Court of Human Rights. Finally, in April 2024, the court’s Grand Chamber ruled 16 to one in their favor.

“I was almost out of breath when the judgement was read out,” said Hollenstein. “I could still jump for joy when I realize what it means.”

From Switzerland to the World

A year later, the ruling’s influence reached the rest of the world, too. In July, the InterAmerican Court of Human Rights and the UN International Court of Justice issued “advisory opinions”—both mentioning the KlimaSeniorinnen case.

The opinions clarify that every nation must protect today’s vulnerable people and future generations from the effects of climate change by limiting warming to 1.5°C in accordance with international treaties. Countries are responsible for the actions of companies within their bounds. With no follow-through, nations will face the heat.

Don’t mess with Boomers. They’re the real FAFO generation.

“Everywhere they went, a group formed of other women,” said Klingler, “because they find it so inspiring that they’re speaking up for these issues.” Groups of older women fighting for their lives formed in France, Luxembourg, and Greece, and recently, Texas. Anthropologists and former grad school besties Rose Jones, 65, and Marsha Prior, 72, had lost touch but reunited over their concern over sweltering heat in the Lone Star State.

“Addressing extreme heat is not just a scientific or policy issue, but a moral imperative,” said Jones, who quit her job to co-found Rapid Anthropology Consulting with Prior. Using anthropological techniques, they’re collecting stories of people affected by extreme heat and other climate-related issues. They’re also launching “Cassandra Coffee Clubs” for women to gather and advocate for their rights, aptly named for the Trojan princess cursed to tell true prophecies that no one believes.

Do Not Die Today

In 1972, a meteorologist gave a talk titled, “Does the flap of a butterfly’s wings in Brazil set off a tornado in Texas?” spawning the now well-known idea of the butterfly effect. Today, I can answer with confidence: yes. Even when it feels like a David vs. Goliath battle, small actions can have huge consequences. Just look at the positive changes wrought worldwide by the fluttering of a group of “old” ladies’ wings in Switzerland.

Thanks to the actions of an overlooked, underappreciated segment of society, thousands and maybe millions of lives will be saved. And millions more? Inspired.

I keep thinking about the “Do Not Die Today” signs that marked a trailhead in Joshua Tree National Park, a desert landscape east of L.A., where I hiked with my 19-year old daughter over spring break. An unexpected heat wave hit and the signs were apropos.

Back then, we joked about it, reminding each other to drink water. Now, it feels like the rallying cry of the KlimaSeniorinnen: Don’t die today. Don’t let the planet die today. And don’t let that cheeky inner spirit ever stop fighting for what you believe in, no matter how many trips you’ve taken around the sun.

Survival isn’t passive. It’s loud, unrelenting, and red-hot with purpose. And it demands a righteous fight.