Our Children’s Trust is a US non-profit law firm that helps youth to fight for their right to a safe climate.They often use the Public Trust Doctrine which states that governments need to manage natural resources in the public’s best interest. They achieved two major victories in Florida and Massassachussetts.
In a historic unanimous resolution the UNGA asked the ICJ to clarify what are states’ obligations to combat the climate crisisPacific island students originated and fought for this, eventually getting more than 120 states on boardWhile not binding, the ICJ’s opinion can provide an important argument in future climate litigation cases and encourage governments’ to strengthen their climate action
The East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) is a 1,443 km heated and buried pipeline that will export oil from Hoima in Uganda to Tanga port in Tanzania. The EACOP will cost an estimated $3.5 billion to construct The construction of the pipeline has been controversial owing to environmental and social impacts, as well as concerns about the negative effects of fossil fuel use.
Individuals in low-income communities are more affected by inadequate waste management and resource exploitation. People who live in poverty are more susceptible to the consequences of climate risks and lack the adaptive abilities to reduce their exposure than those who have access to education
Only 18 % of appointed ministers worldwide are women. The vulnerability of women to the climate crisis is not only environmental but it is also rooted in its intersection with socio-economic and cultural factors, as well as lack of gendered policy. The inclusion of women in decision making and climate related policies is vital to combating women’s vulnerability to the climate crisis.
The ICC has the power to prosecute people (and not nations or organisations) for four types of crimes: genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and aggression.There is a formulated legal definition of ecocide as a prospective 5th offence under the Rome StatuteEcocide: activities done with knowledge that those acts have a strong possibility of causing severe and either widespread or long-term environmental damage
The carbon cycle is a biogeochemical process in which carbon is exchanged between reservoirs through fluxes over a period of time. The dynamic equilibrium of the carbon cycle is heavily disrupted due to human emissions from burning fossil fuels and land degradation, leading to increased levels of carbon dioxide. The Keeling curve is the longest recorded graph of CO2 concentration in the atmosphere on Earth; it indicates that CO2 levels today are the highest in 800,000 years.
Within the strict interpretation of the law, “corporate environmental crimes are strictly speaking not a crime”. The 2008 Environmental Crime Directive states that there is no need to demonstrate the defendants' intention, negligence or fault concerning the harm caused.
As it hasn’t sufficiently reduced greenhouse gas emissions, the Netherlands couldn’t fulfill its duty of care towards its citizens, neither under Dutch Tort Law nor from a Human Rights perspective. According to the issuing courts there is a sufficient causal link between the greenhouse gas emissions of the Netherlands, global climate change, and the Dutch living environment, even if these emissions are relatively small. The courts played an important role in this case and were able to interfere in policy matters (despite the separation of powers) as they only set the required mitigation outcome but no specific measures on how to reach this outcome.
The increase in worldwide water temperatures creates environments where waterborne zoonoses such as schistosomiasis, cercarial dermatitis, fascioliasis, and fasciolopsiasis thrive Displacement of species into human settlements increases the risk potential of zoonotic disease Two instances where Orthopoxvirus species Alaskapox has been unearthed since 2017.