The ruling by the European Court of Human Rights in April made Switzerland the first country ever to be condemned by an international tribunal for not taking sufficient action to tackle the issue.

The court found the Swiss state had violated Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which guarantees the "right to respect for private and family life".

The case was brought by the Swiss association Elders for Climate Protection, a group of 2,500 women aged 73 on average.

The organisation wants climate protection to be recognised as a human right and said the Swiss authorities' failure to mitigate the effects of climate change was having a negative impact on their lives and health.

Switzerland's biggest political party, the hard-right Swiss People's Party, demanded a withdrawal from the Council of Europe after the ruling.

And both houses of parliament later voted to spurn the court's decision.

The Swiss government discussed the verdict and its implications on Wednesday.

The government "is committed to Switzerland's membership of the Council of Europe and to the system of the European Convention on Human Rights", it said in a statement.

However, like the houses of parliament, "it is critical of the interpretation" of the convention "with regard to climate protection".

The government said it rejected the broad interpretation of the convention by the court, and said case law "must not lead to an extension of the scope" of the convention.

"It is also of the opinion that Switzerland meets the climate policy requirements of the ruling."

It said the court had not taken into account Switzerland's revised carbon dioxide laws of March 15 this year, in which Bern "defined measures to achieve its 2030 climate targets".