UPDATE – UN adopts ICJ opinion on legal duty to cut emissions
The UN General Assembly voted on Wednesday to approve a resolution to endorsing the International Court of Justice (ICJ) advisory opinion on climate change issued in 2025, which found that states have a legal obligation to cut GHG emissions.
Read MoreIndian fertilisers have immediate emissions reduction opportunities, report says
India’s fertiliser industry could cut emissions immediately through efficiency upgrades, renewable electricity, and carbon capture, a report said.
Read MoreInternational NGOs, academics call on NZ govt to abandon climate law changes
More than 100 NGOs and academics from around the world have signed a letter to the New Zealand government, urging it to not proceed with planned changes to the country’s climate law which would limit tort claims for damage arising from climate change. Â
Read MoreBRIEFING: Optimism ahead of UN vote on landmark ICJ climate opinion
Environmental campaigners are optimistic that the UN General Assembly will vote on Wednesday to adopt a resolution to endorse last year’s historic International Court of Justice (ICJ) advisory opinion on climate change, which found that states have a legal obligation to cut GHG emissions.
Read MoreCalifornia bill to protect carbon neutral claims tied to carbon credits fails to advance
A proposal to make it harder to sue companies over some “carbon neutral” claims based on voluntary carbon credits was effectively blocked in the California Assembly on Thursday.
Read MoreOil majors ask SCOTUS to reject state-law climate claims against fossil fuel producers
State-law claims seeking damages from fossil fuel producers over local climate harms would allow courts across the US to set conflicting national climate policy, oil companies argued in a Thursday brief to the US Supreme Court (SCOTUS).
Read MoreGermany’s gas plant subsidy plan risks breaching EU state aid rules, lawyers warn
Germany’s latest plans to subsidise new gas-fired power capacity are incompatible with EU state aid rules, the environmental law firm ClientEarth warned on Wednesday, calling on Brussels to open an in-depth investigation rather than approve the scheme.
Read MoreTrump administration seeks injunction to halt state climate lawsuit against energy producers
The Trump-led US Department of Justice (DOJ) asked a federal court on Monday to block Minnesota from pursuing its climate lawsuit against energy producers, one week after suing the state over what it called an unlawful attempt to regulate global GHG emissions through state law.
Read MoreNZ govt slammed over move to ban climate tort claims
Planned amendments to New Zealand’s core climate change law to limit tort claims arising from climate impacts has been criticised, with one legal observer telling Carbon Pulse it marks an “egregious departure” from government norms.
Read MoreClimate Litigation Roundup: Deception claims survive US federal challenges as VCM legal risks come into focus
The past month in climate litigation saw US courts preserve state-law deception claims against fossil fuel companies while pushing back on federal attempts to block them, the Dutch government move to appeal a ruling on climate duties for Bonaire, and fresh questions emerge about legal accountability in the voluntary carbon market (VCM).
Read More