International

304 posts

Climate Governance under the London Convention and Protocol: Due Diligence and Environmental Impact Assessments

Introduction We are at a moment of profound development in understanding how international law applies to climate change. Recently issued advisory opinions from the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), and regional human rights courts have clarified country obligations, under international […]

Climate Governance under the London Convention and Protocol: Precaution and Prevention

Introduction Parties to the 1972 Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter (London Convention) and the 1996 Protocol to the Convention (London Protocol)—two international treaties that aim to protect to the marine environment from human activities—are set to meet in the last week of October 2025. […]

Victims’ Rights, Redress and Accountability for the Climate Crisis: Lessons from Transitional Justice

The climate reparations debate seeks justice for states, communities, and individuals suffering from the unjust distribution of climate-related harms. This debate can be usefully informed by lessons from the field of ‘transitional justice’, i.e., the body of scholarship and practice concerned with how societies respond to the legacies of massive […]

Climate Change and Reparations: Introduction to the Blog Symposium

As the realities of climate change become increasingly dire, communities worldwide face devastating impacts, from rising sea levels to extreme weather events, disproportionately affecting those who have contributed the least to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In this context, impacted individuals and communities are increasingly seeking recourse in international and regional […]

Uncertainty on Climate Risk Disclosure as Trump’s SEC Abdicates Responsibility

For a second time, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has passed the buck on its landmark climate disclosure rule, entitled The Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors. The rule, finalized just last year, remains in legal limbo, as neither the SEC nor the courts seem eager to […]

A Single Paragraph’s Promise: The ICJ’s Advisory Opinion on Climate Change and the Understated Question of Human Displacement

Within a single month, two groundbreaking advisory opinions on climate change have been issued, fundamentally shaking the field of international environmental and human rights law: the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) Advisory Opinion OC-32/25 on the “Climate Emergency and Human Rights” and the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ’s) Advisory […]

Enhanced Due Diligence: A New Legal Standard for Climate Action in the Inter-American System

Advisory Opinion 32/25 (AO-32/25)  of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) marks a turning point in the interpretation of international human rights law in relation to climate change. In AO-32/25, the IACtHR recognizes that the world is facing a genuine climate emergency and affirms that this situation demands an […]

The ICJ’s Advisory Opinion on Climate Change: An Introduction

“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 […]