Climate change is both a global crisis that binds humanity to a shared fate – a “common concern for humankind” – as well as the revealer of historical inequalities on the international stage, rooted in colonial legacies. Every country is vulnerable to the destabilization of the climate system and must […]
Climate Litigation
314 posts
When lawsuits first began to raise climate change issues in the late 1980s, the cases were rare and experimental, with litigants testing out ways to draw on the growing body of climate science to argue for legal obligations to address “the serious and imminent threat to our environment posed by […]
As climate-related disasters intensify across the globe, the question of how to obtain redress for environmental damage has become increasingly urgent. Yet, public international law has so far struggled to provide effective remedies. The traditional framework of holding states responsible for environmental damage seems to fall short, especially in the […]
As climate litigation continues to rise, a pivotal and unresolved legal question emerges in the law of State responsibility: how to allocate responsibility for injuries that result from the cumulative conduct of multiple actors. Climate-related injury derives from the aggregate and diffuse effect of anthropogenic activities, as well as natural […]
While the impacts of climate change become increasingly challenging, states’ climate action is lagging behind. Activities and movements aiming to prompt more progressive climate actions are increasingly emerging outside of, and bypassing, climate negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement. They include […]
The legal landscape for climate action is undergoing a paradigmatic shift. Whereas the primary focus was once on treaty negotiations and diplomacy, climate advocates are now increasingly turning to the courts. Yet as more rulings are handed down in favor of plaintiffs, important questions arise. Are these decisions driving meaningful […]
The trilogy of climate advisory opinions from the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR), and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) marks a watershed moment not only for climate litigation but also for understanding the evolving role of Conferences of […]
In the recent Advisory Opinion on States’ Obligations in respect of Climate Change (AO, 2025) various remarks by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) lean into an increasingly “administrative” law turn in international law. Administrative law, particularly in the common law, often focuses on the acceptability of the procedures through […]