Climate Change Litigation
The Sabin Center’s Climate Change Litigation program shapes the evolving field of climate litigation through research, documentation, and analysis of how courts worldwide are responding to the climate crisis. The Sabin Center also engages directly with courts by submitting amicus briefs in cases involving climate change law and policy.
Publications
- Climate Change in the Courts: A 2024 Retrospective, by Maria Antony Tigre & Margaret Barry (January 2025)
- Climate Litigation in the Global South: Mapping Report, by Maria Antonia Tigre (July 2024)
- Climate Change in the Courts: A 2023 Retrospective, by Maria Antony Tigre & Margaret Barry (December 2023)
- Global Climate Litigation Report: 2023 Status Review (UNEP), by Michael Burger & Maria Antonia Tigre (2023)
- Climate Litigation in Latin America: Is the region quietly leading a regional revolution?, 14(1) J. Hum. Rts. & Envt. 67–93 (2023), by Maria Antonia Tigre, Natalia Urzola and Alexandra Goodman
- Status Report on Principles of International and Human Rights Law Relevant to Climate Change, by Maria Antonia Tigre, Katelyn Horne and Michael Gerrard (2023)
- Just Transition Litigation in Latin America: An Initial Categorization of Climate Litigation Cases Amid the Energy Transition, by Maria Antonia Tigre, Lorena Zenteno, Marlies Hesselman, Natalia Urzola, Pedro Cisterna-Gaete, and Riccardo Luporini (January 2023)
- Climate Change and Indigenous Groups: The Rise of Indigenous Voices in Climate Litigation, by Maria Antonia Tigre (December 2022)
The Sabin Center, in partnership with Verfassungsblog, continued to publish blog posts on the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the International Court of Justice's advisory opinions on the climate emergency and their potential impacts in two blog symposiums:
- From Sidelines to Center Stage: Conferences of the Parties (COPs) as Legal Playmakers, by Sebastián Rioseco and Tejas Rao, September 16, 2025
- International Law’s Administrative Law Turn and the Paris Agreement, by Caroline E. Foster and Bella Belcher, September 11, 2025
- A Right to Defend the Environment: Legal Protection for Environmental Advocacy in the IACtHR’s Climate Advisory Opinion, by Nina Alizadeh Marandi and Philipp Schönberger (September 9, 2025)
- Epistemic Authority and the Right to Science in AO-32/25: Legal Foundations for the Integration of Traditional Knowledge in the Inter-American System, by Alberto do Amaral Junior and Isabela Soares Bicalho (September 8, 2025)
- The Evasion of Historical Responsibility? Colonialism, Temporality and Reparative Justice in the ICJ’s Climate Advisory Opinion, by Julia Dehm (Sept. 5, 2025)
- “Doing the utmost”: Due diligence as the standard of conduct in international climate law, by Christina Voigt (Sept. 3, 2025)
- Closing the Silences: Using the ICJ’s Interpretive Method to Read Its Climate Opinion, By David Frydlinger, August 29, 2025
- Can Africa Still Drill? What the ICJ Climate Opinion Means for Oil and Gas Exploration in Africa, By Elsabé Boshoff and Samrawit Getaneh Damtew, August 28, 2025
- Is Montevideo Sinking? “Disappearing” States and De-territorialized Statehood Following the ICJ’s Advisory Opinion on Climate Change, By Aurelio Corneo and Judith Scherer, August 20, 2025
- When Custom Binds All States: Reflections on Customary International Law in the ICJ Climate Advisory Opinion, By Markus W. Gehring, August 17, 2025
- A Panoply of Consequences? Remedies and Reparations in the ICJ’s Climate Opinion, by Maria Antonia Tigre, Camille Martini, Miriam Cohen and Armando Rocha, August 13, 2025
- Harmonizing Sources, Hardening Duties – Inside the ICJ’s Advisory Opinion on Climate Change, by Margaretha Wewerinke-Singh, August 11, 2025
- Of Warming and Warzones: The Legal Status of Military Emissions in the ICJ’s Climate Opinion, by Eva Baudichau, August 8, 2025
- The Struggle against Fossil Sovereignty: The International Court of Justice in the Climate Crisis, by Jochen von Bernstorff and Ingo Venzke, August 6, 2025
- New Standards in Government Framework Litigation: Legal Implications of the ICJ Advisory Opinion on Climate Change, by Joe Udell and Floris Tan, August 5, 2025
- Sea-Level Rise Reaches The Hague: Findings in Relation to the Law of the Sea in the ICJ’s Climate Change Advisory Opinion, by Antoine De Spiegeleir and Armando Rocha, August 4, 2025
- Human Rights in the ICJ’s Climate Opinion: A Comparative Evaluation, by Corina Heri, August 1, 2025
- The Ruling and the Mirror: The ICJ’s Climate Change Advisory Opinion as Institutional Self-Portrait, by Antoine De Spiegeleir, July 31, 2025
- What the Court Didn’t Say: The ICJ’s Climate Opinion and the Politics of Judicial Restraint, by Jed Odermatt, July 30, 2025
- World’s Highest Court Embraces the Right to a Healthy Environment, by David R. Boyd, July 29, 2025
- A Single Paragraph’s Promise: The ICJ’s Advisory Opinion on Climate Change and the Understated Question of Human Displacement, by Lena Riemer, July 26, 2025
- Enhanced Due Diligence: A New Legal Standard for Climate Action in the Inter-American System, by Rodrigo da Costa Sales, July 25, 2025
- The ICJ’s Advisory Opinion on Climate Change: An Introduction, by Maria Antonia Tigre, Maxim Bönnemann and Antoine De Spiegeleir, July 24, 2025
- Corporations, Climate, and the Court: New Directions for Business and Human Rights in AO-32/25, by Sarah Dorman, Monica Iyer and Kelsey Jost-Creegan, July 24, 2025
- Protecting Rights in the Anthropocene: How the Inter‑American Court’s Right to a Healthy Climate Pushes the Boundaries of Human Rights Law, by Verena Kahl and José Daniel Rodríguez Orúe, July 22, 2025
- Addressing Accountability in the IACtHR’s Advisory Opinion: The Question of Reparation and Loss and Damage, by Armando Rocha, Maria Antonia Tigre and Miriam Cohen, July 19, 2025
- Reproductive Rights and the Climate Crisis: The Omission of the Inter-American Court in AO-32/25, by Paulina Macías Ortega and Fabiola Gretzinger, July 18, 2025
- A Nod, Not a Leap: Gender and Climate in the IACtHR’s AO-32/25, by Maria Antonia Tigre, Dina Lupin, and Natalia Urzola, July 17, 2025
- Jus Cogens and the Climate Crisis: The IACtHR’s Landmark Climate Emergency Advisory Opinion and its Jus Cogens Verdict, by Markus W. Gehring, July 16, 2025
- The Right to a Healthy Environment as a Catalyst for Urgent and Ambitious Climate Action at the IACtHR, by David Boyd, July 15, 2025
- A Differentiated Path Forward: The Inter-American Court’s Advisory Opinion on Climate Change and Human Mobility Rights, by Lena Riemer and Luca Scheid, July 10, 2025
- A Blueprint for Rights-Based Climate Action: The Inter-American Court of Human Rights’ Advisory Opinion on the Climate Emergency, by Maria Antonia Tigre, Maxim Bonneman, and Korey Silverman-Roati, July 9, 2025
Engagement
- Amicus Brief on behalf of the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Support of Plaintiff States in New York v. Trump (1st Cir.), by Vincent Nolette and Amy Turner (July 2025)
- Amicus Brief on behalf of the National League of Cities and the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Support of EPA in Nebraska v. EPA, by Michael Burger, Amy Turner, and Vincent Nolette (January 2025). The Sabin Center filed an amicus brief on behalf of the National League of Cities and the U.S. Conference of Mayors in support of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in Nebraska v. EPA, a lawsuit challenging the EPA’s 2024 Heavy-Duty Vehicle Emissions Standards.
- Amicus Brief submitted by the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law in Support of New York City in Glen Oaks Village Owners, et al. v. City of New York, et al., by Amy Turner, Michael Burger, and Vincent Nolette (December 2024). The Sabin Center filed an Amicus Brief in support of New York City in Glen Oaks Village Owners, et al. v. City of New York, et al., before the New York State Court of Appeals. The court must answer whether New York City’s New York City’s building performance standards aimed at reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the City’s largest buildings, is preempted by New York State’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA).
- Amicus Brief on behalf of the National League of Cities and the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Support of EPA in Kentucky v. EPA, by Michael Burger, Amy Turner, Olivia Guarna, and Vincent Nolette (December 2024). The Sabin Center filed an amicus brief on behalf of the National League of Cities and the U.S. Conference of Mayors in support of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in Kentucky v. EPA, the lawsuit challenging the EPA’s 2024 Light- and Medium-Duty Vehicle Emissions Standards.
- Amicus Brief on behalf of the National League of Cities and the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Support of EPA in West Virginia v. EPA, by Michael Burger, Amy Turner, and Vincent Nolette (October 2024). The Sabin Center filed an amicus brief on behalf of the National League of Cities and the U.S. Conference of Mayors in support of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in West Virginia v. EPA, the lawsuit challenging the EPA’s 2024 Power Plant Rules. The brief highlights the climate impacts that cities already experience, and local governments' efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change.
- Amicus Brief of Carbon Capture and Storage Scientists and Engineers in Support of EPA in West Virginia v. EPA, by Michael Burger and Romany Webb, with contributions from Olivia Guarna (October 2024). The Sabin Center filed an amicus brief on behalf of Carbon Capture and Storage scientists and engineers in support of Respondent EPA in West Virginia v. EPA, which is a challenge to EPA's recent rules on greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel power plants.
- Amicus Brief submitted by the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law in Support of New York City's Motion for Leave to Appeal to the New York State Court of Appeals in Local Law 97 case, by Amy Turner, Michael Burger, and Vincent Nolette (June 2024). The Sabin Center filed an Amicus Brief in support of New York City's Motion for Leave to Appeal to the New York State Court of Appeals in the case involving a challenge to New York City's Local Law 97.
- Amicus Brief submitted by the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law in support of plaintiffs in the Willow Project Case, by Michael Burger & Jessica Wentz (January 2024). In November, the U.S. District Court of Alaska dismissed 2 lawsuits seeking to halt the Willow oil and gas project. Now, the case will be heard by the Ninth Circuit on appeal, and the Sabin Center has filed an amicus brief in support of the Plaintiffs-Appellants. The brief identifies several specific legal deficiencies in BLM’s analysis of climate change-related considerations for the Willow Project.
- Amicus Brief National League of Cities, League of California Cities & California State Association of Counties In Support of Defendant-Appellee City of Berkeley's Petition for Rehearing En Banc in California Restaurant Ass'n v. City of Berkeley (December 2023). The Sabin Center filed an amicus brief on behalf of the National League of Cities, the League of California Cities & California State Association of Counties In Support of the City of Berkeley's Petition for Rehearing En Banc before the Ninth Circuit in California Restaurant Ass'n v. City of Berkeley.
- Amicus Brief submitted by the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law on Climate Science and Human Rights Obligations to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights on the Request for an Advisory Opinion on the Climate Emergency and Human Rights from the Republic of Colombia and the Republic of Chile (November 2023) by Jessica Wentz, Michael Burger, Maria Antonia Tigre and Michael Gerrard
- Amicus Brief of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law in Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic v. Bureau of Land Management, by Michael Burger, Jessica Wentz, and Romany Webb (July 2023). The Sabin Center filed an amicus brief in support of plaintiffs in litigation regarding the Willow Project on the North Slope of Alaska
- Amicus Brief National League of Cities, League of California Cities & California State Association of Counties In Support of Defendant-Appellee City of Berkeley's Petition for Rehearing En Banc in California Restaurant Ass'n v. City of Berkeley, by Michael Burger and Amy Turner (June 2023)
- Amicus Brief of the National League of Cities and U.S. Conference of Mayors in Texas v. EPA by Michael Burger, Martin Lockman, Andrea Nishi, and Amy Turner (March 2023). The Sabin Center filed an amicus brief on behalf of the National League of Cities and U.S. Conference of Mayors in support of EPA's revised light-duty vehicle emissions standards.
Comments from the Sabin Center's Peer Review Network on Global Climate Change Litigation to the 'Study on the Impact of Climate Change on Human and Peoples' Rights in Africa' submitted to the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (November 2023) by Maria Antonia Tigre et al.
Events
- September 25, 2025, The Climate Litigation Databases 2.0: Relaunch Event
- September 24, 2025, Climate Litigation Lessons from Brazil
Media Highlights
- Young People Suing Trump Over Climate Have Their Day in Federal Court, New York Times, September 15, 2025