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.

The council and the convention, "whose fundamental values include the protection of human rights, democracy and the rule of law, remain of great importance to Switzerland".

However, like the houses of parliament, the government "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".

Elders for Climate Protection and Greenpeace Switzerland slammed the government's stance, saying they were insisting on "maintaining climate policy that violates human rights".

The government "refuses to admit that its arguments have been refuted" by the court verdict and "provides no scientific evidence to justify its position", they said in a joint statement.

"So far, Switzerland has not been able to provide concrete figures for its national carbon budget."

Switzerland voters approved a law in June aimed at accelerating the development of renewable energies, as part of the country's bid to attain carbon neutrality by 2050.

It aims to boost wind and solar power's current miniscule contribution to Switzerland's energy mix and rapidly increase hydro production so the wealthy landlocked country is less dependent on imported electricity.