In recent years citizens, sub-national governments and NGOs have turned to litigation to hold governments and corporations accountable for their contributions to climate change. These lawsuits invoke a variety of legal theories and seek an array of remedies. They include efforts by cities to sue fossil fuel companies for damage from climate impacts, suits brought by children to force governments to adopt more aggressive climate policies, NGO campaigns to block or shut down fossil fuel infrastructure, and state, NGO, and fenceline community challenges to rollbacks of critical federal regulation.
This conference, co-hosted by the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment and the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, will follow a parallel conference on the Global Pact for the Environment from 9:00am – 12:00pm in the same room. The Global Pact for the Environment aims to codify the right to a healthy environment in international law and unify international environmental governance. Lunch will be served between the two events.
Following remarks by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, panel discussions will Include:
- Susan Amron, Chief, Environmental Law Division, New York City Law Department
- Commissioner Roberto Cadiz, Philippines Commission on Human Rights
- Abigail Dillen, Vice President of Litigation for Climate and Energy, Earthjustice
- Caterina Freytag, Policy Advisor – Climate Litigation, Germanwatch
- David J. Hayes, Executive Director, State Energy & Environmental Impact Center, New York University
- Mary Anne Hitt, Director, Beyond Coal Campaign, Sierra Club
- Tessa Khan, Co-Director, Climate Litigation Network, Urgenda Foundation
- César Rodríguez Garavito, Executive Director, Dejusticia
- Vic Sher, Partner and Co-Founder, Sher Edling LLP
- Lemuel Srolovic, Environmental Protection Bureau Chief, New York State Office of the Attorney General
- Mary Wood, Philip H. Knight Professor of Law and Faculty Director, Environmental and Natural Resources Law Center, University of Oregon