LAUSANNE, Switzerland (Reuters) – A Swiss court on Thurday reversed an earlier ruling acquitting a dozen climate activists from trespassing at Credit Suisse on the grounds that their actions were necessitated by the “imminent danger” of climate change.
The surprise January ruling had inspired other acts of civil disobedience by climate protesters, including against banks financing fossil fuel projects, and was seen as setting an important precedent for follow-up cases.
Judge Christophe Maillard told the appeals court on Thursday in a Lausanne suburb that the danger of climate change was “imminent” but said that the defendants could have used other means.
(Reporting by Emma Farge in Lausanne; editing by Stephanie Nebehay and Toby Chopra)
