The International Court of Justice (ICJ)’s recent advisory opinion on climate change represents a pivotal moment in the evolution of international climate law. By affirming that States can incur legal responsibility for failing to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the ICJ brought long-standing principles of State responsibility into sharper focus […]
Maria Antonia Tigre
68 posts
“An existential threat” – this is how the International Court of Justice (ICJ) characterized climate change in its long-awaited advisory opinion on the obligations of States with respect to climate change. In the most significant development in international climate law since the adoption of the Paris Agreement, the ICJ outlined […]
On July 3, 2025, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) delivered a historic advisory opinion regarding States’ obligations in relation to the climate crisis (AO-32/25). The IACtHR was particularly articulate in qualifying States’ obligations under the right to a healthy environment as having a jus cogens nature (paras. 287ff), […]
On July 3, 2025, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) issued Advisory Opinion AO-32/25, its most wide-ranging and ambitious interpretation of State obligations in the context of the climate emergency to date. The opinion responds to a request submitted by Colombia and Chile, and is notable not only for […]
A Historic Advisory Opinion On July 3, 2025, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) issued Advisory Opinion No. 32—the most important and progressive document yet released by an international court on the climate crisis. In this landmark ruling (still only available in Spanish, with official English and Portuguese translations […]
As the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) prepares to release its advisory opinion on climate change on July 3, 2025—joining earlier decisions from the International Tribunal for the Law of the Seas (ITLOS) and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), and in anticipation of the International Court of […]
A plaintiff from the Global South. A carbon giant from the Global North. And a courtroom in a mid-sized German city. On May 28, 2025, the Higher Regional Court of Hamm issued its ruling in what has become Germany’s most high-profile climate lawsuit — Lliuya v. RWE. While the court […]
As of June 2025, Brazil had the third largest number of climate litigation cases of any country in the world. To date, a total of 135 climate cases have been brought in Brazil—surpassing other major jurisdictions and trailing only the United States and Australia. Remarkably, the vast majority of these […]