Climate Law Blog

By Michael B. Gerrard Despite the Paris Climate Agreement, the seas will continue to rise, coastlines around the world will recede, and many low-lying islands will disappear. This could cause the exclusive economic zones of the small island states to shrink or disappear if international law allows maritime boundaries to move.  This note argues that, […]

By Dena Adler It has been a busy few weeks in global climate change litigation. Even as world leaders gather in Poland this week to continue writing the rulebook for the Paris Agreement, countries are already being sued for their failure to deliver climate action. Here is a snapshot of a few key legal developments, […]

By Ama Francis Five sports entities explained why they have become industry leaders by engaging with voluntary carbon offset markets at Friday’s Sports and Climate Change Summit. The New York Yankees, New York Mets, NASCAR, U.S. Tennis Association (USTA), and Major League Soccer (MLS) are each purchasing carbon offsets from cookstove projects in low-income African […]

Edited by Michael Burger (Sabin Center for Climate Change Law), Teresa Parejo (UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network) and Lisa Sachs (Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment). With research and administrative support from Nathan Lobel (Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment). On May 10, 2018, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted Resolution 72/277 (“Toward a Global Pact for […]

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 […]