A WATERFORD lawyer was instrumental in a landmark climate case which secured a major victory in the European Court of Human Rights yesterday (Tues).

The win was for a group of elderly Swiss women who had argued that their Government's inadequate efforts to combat climate change had put them at risk of dying during heatwaves.

The ECHR ruled that Switzerland's failure to meet past greenhouse gas reduction targets had violated some of their human rights.

The case involved more than 2,000 women and it's anticipated that it may have a ripple effect across Europe and beyond, setting a binding precedent for how some courts deal with the rising tide of climate litigation, argued on the basis of human rights infringements.

Gerard Quinn, a lawyer from Waterford originally who works as Director at Galway's 'Global Legal Action Network', helped bring the action.

He spoke to Damien on 'Deise Today' this morning (Wed) about the importance of the win, and you can listen back to their chat by clicking on the image above...