As frustration mounts in some quarters at the perceived inadequacy or speed of international action on climate change, and as the likelihood of significant impacts grows, the focus is increasingly turning to liability for climate change damage. Actual or potential climate change liability implicates a growing range of actors, including governments, industry, businesses, non-governmental organisations, individuals and legal practitioners. Climate Change Liability provides an objective, rigorous and accessible overview of the existing law and the direction it might take in seventeen developed and developing countries and the European Union. In some jurisdictions, the applicable law is less developed and less the subject of current debate. In others, actions for various kinds of climate change liability have already been brought, including high profile cases such as Massachusetts v. EPA in the United States. Each chapter explores the potential for and barriers to climate change liability in private and public law.

Climate change and its adverse impacts on nature and human society are clearly felt. Who should bear the responsibility? Should anyone be held liable for grave losses and damages related to climate change? In what way and to what extent can these issues be addressed in legal mechanisms both globally and locally? Will an international liability regime an ultimate solution? Are courts ready for and capable of resolving these disputes that find intricacy of law, policy and science? To shed light on these issues, this book is structured with four main themes on the discussions of climate change liability and related mechanisms. They are: 1) state liability and responsibility, 2) climate change litigation, 3) climate change liability and alternatives, and 4) dispute resolution and remedies. Reflections on the concepts of liability/responsibly/accountability have provided for nuanced understandings of their functional dynamics in climate change governance. Our findings also suggest that International and domestic courts have become a vital player in attribution or distribution of climate change liability. In addition to formalistic rights discourse and rigid liability regime, a few alternatives such as carbon market, insurance, mediation or soft law are also finding their ways to ensuring sustainability of climate change governance.

The first book to focus on the legal aspects of climate engineering, making recommendations for future laws and governance.

This ground-breaking volume provides analyses from experts around the globe on the part played by national and international law, through legislation and the courts, in advancing efforts to tackle climate change, and what needs to be done in the future. Published under the auspices of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law (BIICL), the volume builds on an event convened at BIICL, which brought together academics, legal practitioners and NGO representatives. The volume offers not only the insights from that event, but also additional materials, sollicited to offer the reader a more complete picture of how climate change litigation is evolving in a global perspective, highlighting both opportunities, and constraints.

This book sheds new light on the growing issue of using liability as a tool for both preventing and compensating for the damage caused by climate change. Michael Faure and Marjan Peeters have brought together a selection of expert contributors who explore a variety of both national and European perspectives on the topic. Climate change liability is no longer only a theoretical idea since climate changelitigation has become so hotly debated and this book examines to what extent it can be used for mitigation and adaptation issues. Chapters discuss the potential role of liability within various legal systems, like the national systems of the USA and The Netherlands, but also EU and ECHR law. Liability is outlined in a broad perspective since not only compensation for damage suffered by plaintiffs isdiscussed, but also the need for prevention in order to obtain a reduction of greenhouse gases.

This book is based on the acknowledgment that climate change is a multifaceted challenge that requires action on the part of all stakeholders, including civil society, and the notion that climate change is at a tipping point with urgent measures needed in the next decade. Against this background, civil society is turning its attention to the courts as a means to directly influence climate action, partly because of the global scepticism towards the progress of global climate action, despite the ongoing implementation of the Paris Agreement. Focusing on the individual, broadly representing civil society, the book offers fresh perspectives on climate change litigation. While most of the literature on climate change litigation examines the same specific jurisdictions, mostly common law countries (US and Australia in particular), this book also considers specific countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America with little or no climate change litigation. It explores the reasons for the lack of litigation and discusses what measures should or could be taken to change this situation and push forward climate action. Unlike other literature on the subject, this book analyses climate change litigation using a scenario-based methodology. Combining rigorous academic analysis with a practical policy-oriented focus, the book provides valuable insights for a wide range of stakeholders interested in climate change litigation. It appeals to civil society organisations around the world, international organisations and law firms interested in climate change litigation.

This book provides an authoritative insight on the Loss and Damage discourse by highlighting state-of-the-art research and policy linked to this discourse and articulating its multiple concepts, principles and methods. Written by leading researchers and practitioners, it identifies practical and evidence-based policy options to inform the discourse and climate negotiations. With climate-related risks on the rise and impacts being felt around the globe has come the recognition that climate mitigation and adaptation may not be enough to manage the effects from anthropogenic climate change. This recognition led to the creation of the Warsaw International Mechanism on Loss and Damage in 2013, a climate policy mechanism dedicated to dealing with climate-related effects in highly vulnerable countries that face severe constraints and limits to adaptation. Endorsed in 2015 by the Paris Agreement and effectively considered a third pillar of international climate policy, debate and research on Loss and Damage continues to gain enormous traction. Yet, concepts, methods and tools as well as directions for policy and implementation have remained contested and vague. Suitable for researchers, policy-advisors, practitioners and the interested public, the book furthermore: • discusses the political, legal, economic and institutional dimensions of the issue• highlights normative questions central to the discourse • provides a focus on climate risks and climate risk management. • presents salient case studies from around the world.

This timely Research Handbook offers an insightful review of how legal systems Ð whether domestic, international or transnational Ð can and should adjust to fairly and effectively support loss and damage (L&D) claims in climate change law.Ê International contributors guide readers through a detailed assessment of the history and current state of L&D provisions under the UN climate regime and consider the opportunities to fund L&D claims both within and outside the UN climate system.Ê

This book is the first comprehensive assessment of the legal duties of states with regard to human induced climate change damage. By discussing the current state of climate science in the context of binding international law, it convincingly argues that compensation for such damage could indeed be recoverable. The author analyses legal duties requiring states to prevent climate change damage, and discusses to what extent a breach of these duties will give rise to state responsibility (international liability). The analysis includes the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol, but also various nature/ biodiversity protection and law of the sea instruments, as well as the no-harm-rule as a key provision of customary international law. The challenge in applying the different aspects of the law on state responsibility, including causation and standard of proof, are discussed in three case studies, and the questions raised by multiple polluters explored in depth. Against this background, the author advocates an internationally negotiated solution to the issue of climate change damage.

Courts have emerged as a crucial battleground in efforts to regulate climate change. Over the past several years, tribunals at every level of government around the world have seen claims regarding greenhouse gas emissions and impacts. These cases rely on diverse legal theories, but all focus on government regulation of climate change or the actions of major corporate emitters. This book explores climate actions in state and national courts, as well as international tribunals, in order to explain their regulatory significance. It demonstrates the role that these cases play in broader debates over climate policy and argues that they serve as an important force in pressuring governments and emitters to address this crucial problem. As law firms and public interest organizations increasingly develop climate practice areas, the book serves as a crucial resource for practitioners, policymakers and academics.