Climate Law Blog

By William Omorogieva* The intensity of recent hurricanes and the damage they have caused in America have garnered lots of national news coverage. After Hurricane Katrina, it became evident how a lack of planning for natural disasters can have dangerous and deadly consequences. However, often hidden from public view is the struggle that some of […]

By Richmund Sta. Lucia On March 27, 2018, the Philippine Commission on Human Rights (CHR) held its first hearingon the petition seeking to hold the “Carbon Majors” accountable for contributing to global emissions of greenhouse gases and the resultant impacts of climate change. The said petition requests the CHR to investigate the responsibility for climate-related human […]

By Romany Webb and Jessica Wentz The latest round of United Nations (UN) climate change talks got underway yesterday – April 30 – at the seat of the secretariat to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Germany. The so-called “intersessional” talks, which take place each year midway between the annual Conference of […]

Each month, Arnold & Porter and the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law collect and summarize developments in climate-related litigation, which we also add to our U.S. and non-U.S. climate litigation charts.  If you know of any cases we have missed, please email us at columbiaclimate at gmail dot com. HERE ARE THE ADDITIONS TO THE CLIMATE CASE CHART SINCE UPDATE […]

Colombian Youth Plaintiffs Sue for Recognition of the Rights of Future Generations By Jose Felix Pinto-Bazurco* On January 29, 2018, a group of 25 children and young adults sued the Colombian government, demanding the protection of their constitutional rights to health, food, water, and a healthy environment. The plaintiffs argue that climate change endangers these […]

By Richmund Sta. Lucia The world is currently looking with great interest at how the groundbreaking case known as the “Carbon Majors” petition will unfold. On September 22, 2015, Greenpeace Southeast Asia, Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement, and numerous other interest groups filed a petition with the Philippine Commission on Human Rights (CHR) against 50 multinational […]

By Jose Felix Pinto-Bazurco* Since its founding in 1979, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (the Court) has issued 24 advisory opinions. Although it has previously recognized the existence of a relationship between environmental protection and the enjoyment of other human rights, it has done so only in relation to the territorial rights of indigenous […]

Forced Migration After Paris COP21: Evaluating the “Climate Change Displacement Coordination Facility” By Phillip Dane Warren, Columbia Law Student and Former Sabin Center Intern Climate change represents, perhaps, the greatest challenge of the twenty-first century. As temperatures and sea levels rise, governments around the world will face massive and unprecedented human displacement that international law […]

Today, the Sabin Center made a submission to the Philippines Commission on Human Rights in support of a petition requesting an investigation into the responsibility of the investor-owned “Carbon Majors” for human rights violations resulting from the impacts of climate change. The Commission has already launched the investigation, and is now in the process of […]

Jessica Wentz, Staff Attorney and Associate Research Scholar Last week, I attended the Advisory Committee Workshop of the Platform on Disaster Displacement in Geneva. The Platform is the successor to the Nansen Initiative – a state-led global consultative process aimed at identifying effective practices and building consensus on normative standards for the protection of persons […]