A new climate litigation claim in Brazil raises the pressure for increased climate action and protection of the Amazon rainforest

A new climate litigation claim in Brazil raises the pressure for increased climate action and protection of the Amazon rainforest By Maria Antonia Tigre On October 26, 2021, Observatório do Clima (OC), a network of 71 civil society organizations, filed a class action at the federal court of Amazonas against […]

Cities Climate Law: A Legal Framework for Local Action in the U.S. Offers Guide for Local Policymakers

Cities around the U.S. have long demonstrated leadership on climate change, with more than 170 of them having set targets to phase out fossil energy and many others committing to net zero greenhouse gas emissions. American cities, towns, counties, and other forms of local government have pioneered path-setting approaches to economy-wide […]

The contribution of automakers to climate change: broadening the reach of private sector defendants in climate litigation

By Maria Antonia Tigre   On September 20, 2021, the German environmental organization Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH) filed two actions against the automakers BMW and Mercedes-Benz for refusing to tighten their carbon emissions target and stop producing fossil fuel fuel-emitting cars by 2030 (DUH v. BMW and DUH v. Mercedes-Benz). The […]

Major developments for global climate litigation: the Human Rights Council recognizes the right to a healthy environment and the Committee on the Rights of the Child publishes its decision in an international youth climate case

By Maria Antonia Tigre The last few days saw two major developments in international rights-based climate litigation, with the adoption of a new resolution by the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) and a long-awaited decision on a climate case by the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC). […]