Sweden’s first systemic climate mitigation case and the application of KlimaSeniorinnen: unpacking the Supreme Court’s judgment in the Aurora case

On February 19, 2025, the Swedish Supreme Court dismissed the Aurora case (Anton Foley and others v Sweden), the first systemic climate change case brought in Sweden. The case is among the first in which a national apex court has applied the principles developed by the European Court of Human […]

Inside a Texas Showdown Over Cities’ Role in Adapting to Climate Change

Texas’ Third Court of Appeals will hear arguments tomorrow, April 23, 2025, in a case that cuts to the core of how state and local governments coexist. In Texas v. City of Houston, City of San Antonio, and City of El Paso, a group of Texas cities is challenging one […]

Reflections from Columbia’s Forum on Climate-Related Fiduciary Duty

As the physical and economic harms of climate change accumulate, corporate managers have faced increasing pressure to reduce their companies’ greenhouse gas emissions and adapt their businesses to climate-related risks. In parallel, civil society organizations and activist investors have increasingly sought to compel private sector action on climate change, while […]

Michigan Court of Appeals Considers Challenge to New Process for Siting Renewables

Over the last five years, several states, including New York (2020), California (2022), Illinois (2023), and Michigan (2023) have adopted comprehensive permitting reforms that curtail the power of local governments to block development of large-scale renewable energy projects. In two states, New York and Michigan, local governments have sued to […]

Andy Fitch joins the Sabin Center as Climate Finance & Regulation Fellow

We are proud to welcome Andy Fitch, who joined the Sabin Center as a Climate Finance and Regulation Fellow in April 2025. His work covers intersections of ESG and antitrust law with sustainability and climate-resiliency goals. He focuses on regulatory and policy responses to climate-related financial risk at the federal […]

Regulation of Seaweed Cultivation and Sinking for Carbon Dioxide Removal in Alaska: New Sabin Center Report

Last year, for the first time, global temperatures exceeded 1.5oC above pre-industrial levels. This follows a decade of “record-breaking temperatures,” with the World Meteorological Organization concluding that “the past ten years 2025-2024 are the ten warmest years on record.” Reversing this trend requires urgent action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions […]

New Executive Order Tees Up Challenges to State and Local Climate Laws

On April 8, 2025, President Trump issued an Executive Order entitled “Protecting American Energy from State Overreach,” which directs the U.S. attorney general to work with department and agency heads to “identify all State and local laws, regulations, causes of action, policies, and practices (collectively, State laws) burdening the identification, […]

San Francisco v. EPA: Impact on Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal

On March 4, 2025, the Supreme Court handed down an important ruling in City and County of San Francisco v. Environmental Protection Agency. In a 5-4 decision, the Court curtailed the Environmental Protection Agency’s (“EPA”) authority under the Clean Water Act (“CWA”) to issue pollutant discharge permits. The case involved […]