Source material and useful links

Statement on the human rights obligations related to climate change, with a particular focus on the right to life by UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Environment

Climate Action Tracker individual country pledges for greenhouse gas emission reductions

Climate Justice Finance

Adaptation Gap Report 2020 from UN Environment Programme

Explainer: Dealing with the ‘loss and damage’ caused by climate change – from Carbon Brief

Why the climate crisis is a humanitarian emergency from UN Humanitarian

Climate Change and Displacement

UK Climate Change and Migration Coalition

Platform on Disaster Displacement

Climate Litigation

Client Earth

Scientists Can Now Blame Individual Natural Disasters on Climate Change – from Scientific American

(Un)Natural Disasters: Communicating Linkages Between Extreme Events and Climate Change – from World Meteorological Organization

Interview with James Thornton, head of public interest law firm Client Earth, explaining how the law can be harnessed for the good of people and the planet, from DW

more Climate Justice briefings (updated May 2021)
The Case for Climate Justice
Climate Justice in International Law
Climate Justice Finance
Climate Displacement
Climate Litigation
Source material and useful links

Recent news and opinion about Climate Justice

G-20 countries ignore Paris Agreement on fossil fuel subsidies

20/7/2021: A new report reveals that G-20 nations collectively cut fossil fuel funding by 10% from 2015 to 2019. However, to remain in line with the Paris Agreement goals, every country should end support of fossil fuel projects.

Source: BloombergNEF

Move faster to cut emissions, developing world tells rich nations

15/7/2021: Governments of the world's poorest countries have joined together in calling on developed countries to accelerate climate action and implement promises of financial support. The response may be crucial to success of the COP26 negotiations later this year.

Source: The Guardian

Shell court ruling is a wake-up call for governments

30/6/2021: The recent Dutch court order for Shell to reduce its emissions increases litigation risks for other oil and gas companies. New academic legal opinion suggests that G20 governments face similar litigation risks relating to their subsidies for fossil fuels.

Source: Climate Home News

Up to 410 million people at risk from sea level rises

29/6/2021: New satellite research has improved the estimate of low-lying coastal land areas that are most vulnerable to sea-level rise. It concludes that the burden of current coastal flood risk falls disproportionally on tropical regions, especially in Asia.

Source: The Guardian

Belgium’s climate failures violate human rights, court rules

18/6/2021: By not taking all “necessary measures” to prevent the “detrimental” effects of climate change, the Belgian state has breached the European convention on human rights, a Brussels court has ruled. The legal victory follows similar rulings in the Netherlands, Germany and France, where judges have condemned governments for inadequate responses to the climate crisis.

Source: The Guardian

Climate activists target Norway at human rights court

15/6/2021: Norwegian climate activists have asked the European Court of Human Rights to rule against Norway’s plans for more oil drilling in the Arctic, arguing the country’s exploration deprives young people of their future. Three courts in Norway have previously ruled in favour of the government, thus exhausting domestic legal options.

Source: Reuters

G7 leaves climate finance ambition in doubt

14/6/2021: The group of major G7 economies failed to match their commitment to holding global heating below 1.5C with the climate finance developing countries need. Only Canada and Germany set out new pledges.

Source: Climate Home News

Call for G7 governments to end fossil fuel subsidies

7/6/2021: Human Rights Watch has reminded G7 leaders that ending fossil fuel subsidies is key to meeting their human rights obligations relating to climate change. Since 2016, G7 promises to phase out “inefficient” fossil fuel subsidies by 2025 have yielded little action.

Source: Human Rights Watch

G7 leaders warned that Covid inequity could undermine COP26

7/6/2021: Vaccine nationalism may prove an unhelpful platform for the crucial climate change COP26 in the autumn. The G7 summit may come under pressure to refresh the principle of equity between richer and poorer countries.

Source: Climate Home News

Shell ordered to reduce CO2 emissions in watershed ruling

26/5/2021: A Dutch court has ordered Shell to bring its emissions in line with the Paris climate targets. The case hinged on the view that Shell has contravened the European convention on human rights by contributing significantly to climate change. The much-anticipated decision paves the way for a wave of litigation against Big Oil companies.

Source: DW

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