On May 21, 2024, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) delivered a long-awaited Advisory Opinion on climate change and international law. This marks the first time that an international tribunal has issued an advisory opinion on State obligations regarding climate change mitigation. The Advisory Opinion addresses […]
Cross-cutting Issues
319 posts
Introduction There has been a common question emerging in recent greenwashing cases across Europe: to what extent must companies provide a holistic impression of their business in their advertisements? Companies that highlight only the sustainable or ‘green’ parts of their businesses have come under fire from consumers, NGOs and rival […]
In April 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced funding recipients for its National Clean Investment Fund (NCIF) and Clean Communities Investment Accelerator (CCIA), two programs established by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The NCIF and CCIA awards are a step towards implementing the “third leg of the […]
On 9 April the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) issued its first ever comprehensive decision in a climate litigation case. The judges of the Court’s Grand Chamber found that Switzerland was in breach of its positive obligations to protect the health, well-being and quality of life of Swiss citizens from the […]
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, […]
In February, the European Commission published its highly anticipated industrial carbon management strategy. The document outlines the Commission’s plans to build an EU-wide carbon management infrastructure as part of its efforts to decarbonize the industrial sector and achieve negative emissions. This blog post discusses these plans by (i) looking at […]
In Verein Klimaseniorinnen Schweiz and Others v Switzerland (“KlimaSeniorinnen”), the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) makes many general statements about the nature of climate change and different actors’ roles in addressing it. For example, ‘the Court notes that climate change is one of the most pressing issues […]