Introduction On November 12, 2024, the Dutch Court of Appeal in The Hague issued its eagerly awaited appeals judgment in Milieudefensie (Friends of the Earth Netherlands) and others v. Royal Dutch Shell. The applicants sought an injunction declaring that Shell is legally bound to reduce its carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions […]
Maria Antonia Tigre
In recent years, climate litigation has witnessed a surge in cases across the world. While scholarly interest has predominantly focused on cases from the Global North, attention to litigation originating in the Global South has been lacking, yet crucial in understanding the broader climate litigation landscape. Today, the Sabin Center […]
A Missed Opportunity or the First of Many Decisions to Come? The recent rulings on climate change by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) are—as others have pointed out in this blog symposium—both “historic and unprecedented” for various reasons, not least regarding the question of reparation for climate change-related harm. While redress […]
Much has been said already about the decision in KlimaSeniorinnen v. Switzerland granted on Apr 9, 2024 by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR or the Court). The Court’s decision was groundbreaking in that it established an obligation to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as a human rights duty, […]
Today, the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law published a new report titled Advisory Opinion On Climate Change: Summary of Written Observations Submitted to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (Part 1). Faced with an escalating climate emergency, the global community is increasingly turning to international courts and tribunals for guidance on addressing […]
In a transformative moment for European and global climate litigation, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruled today that the state has a positive duty to adopt, and effectively implement in practice, regulations and measures capable of mitigating the existing and potentially irreversible future effects of climate change. In […]
Today, the Sabin Center published an end-of-year report on the state of climate change litigation in 2023. The report, titled Climate Change in the Courts: A 2023 Thematic Retrospective, examines key cases and rulings that have shaped the legal discourse on climate change in 2023 or that are poised to […]
Last week, the Sabin Center’s Peer Reviewer Network provided a detailed comment in response to the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights’ Call for Comments on the draft study concerning the impact of climate change on human rights in Africa. The comment offers recommendations to strengthen the draft study’s […]