Cross-cutting Issues

505 posts

Historic and Unprecedented: The ECtHR Upholds Positive Human Rights Obligations to Mitigate Climate Change

The three much-awaited judgments issued by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) on April 9, 2024 are truly historic and unprecedented. In Verein Klimaseniorinnen Schweiz and Others v. Switzerland, the Grand Chamber established that climate change is “one of the most pressing issues of our times” and poses a […]

The Transformation of European Climate Change Litigation: Introduction to the Blog Symposium

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 […]

International Governance of Ocean-Based Carbon Dioxide Removal: Recent Developments and Future Directions

Ocean-based carbon dioxide removal (CDR) is attracting increased attention as a possible climate change response strategy. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has made clear that, while CDR cannot substitute for rapid and deep cuts in emissions, its use is “unavoidable” if the worst impacts of climate change are […]

The SEC’s Final Climate Disclosure Rule: Interrogating Preemption and Coherence with Other Domestic Regimes

Now that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has released its final climate disclosure rule, attention has turned to the rule’s implementation and impact. This post is the third in a series of blogs that address specific legal features of the rule: Part One offers a summary of the final […]

The SEC’s Final Climate Disclosure Rule: Pathways for Improving the “Floor”

In the March 6th vote to approve the SEC’s final climate disclosure rule, the Commissioners split along party lines, with the rule passing by a 3-2 vote. It received a scathing review from Commissioners Peirce and Uyeda, both of whom suggested that the SEC should have re-proposed a new rule, […]

State “Climate Superfund” Bills: What You Need to Know

In the first months of 2024, legislators in four states—Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, and Vermont—have pushed for legislation that would collectively require large fossil fuel producers and refiners to pay for hundreds of billions of dollars of state-level climate adaptation infrastructure. E&E News reports that similar legislation may soon be […]

The SEC’s Final Climate Disclosure Rule: Key Requirements, and the Materiality Threshold

Nearly two years and 24,000 public comments after its proposal, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released its final climate disclosure rule last week, formally titled “The Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors.” The rule expands public companies’ disclosure requirements to include certain greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions data […]