This legal brief from the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law discusses the increasing prominence of climate change litigation (CCL) at the international level, analysing both common arguments being successfully deployed, and potential steps for global stakeholders to avoid exposure to CCL.
The brief begins by identifying the strategies used in CCL that have made them relatively successful in different jurisdictions, and why this has been the case. Particular attention is afforded to human rights claims, the precautionary principle, public trust doctrine, nuisance provisions and climate risk disclosures as common arguments used in CCL. These arguments and why they have worked in a legal setting are discussed with relevant cases. General developing trends in CCL are then examined, especially as they relate to mitigation and adaptation-related cases, and how common and civil law systems have responded to CCL. Finally, potential actions that could be taken by governments, organisations and corporations to avoid liability are reviewed; these include raising ambition for taking action related to addressing climate change and disclosing the full risks associated with climate change and divestment from fossil fuel investments.
Read the full brief here: Updated_SN_April_CISDL – EBRD – Climate Litigation Briefing – 31 Dec 2018 v1_ZB
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This brief was authored by Sujay Natson. Sujay holds an M.Sc. in Environmental Change and Management from the University of Oxford and an A.B. in Political Science and Geology from Brown University. After completing his MSc, he worked for the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre to design social policy targeted at assisting vulnerable communities affected by climate impacts in urban areas. In April 2019, he will be starting his new role as a Climate Change Planning and Programming consultant for UNICEF at their East Asia and Pacific office in Bangkok, Thailand. He is passionate about finding solutions addressing the inequality of climate change impacts, at the intersection of climate litigation, climate finance as well as loss and damage, to achieve justice for those marginalised. Born in India, raised in Singapore and educated through engagements around the world, he has prior experience working with NGOs and Least Developed Country negotiators within the UNFCCC context.