2015
This chapter is forthcoming in the third edited volume of the SHARES book series: André Nollkaemper and Ilias Plakokefalos (eds.), The Practice of Shared Responsibility in International Law (Cambridge University Press, 2016).
24 June 2015
Today, the Hague District Court ordered the Dutch State to take more action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the Netherlands. In its judgment the District Court formulated a concrete obligation: the State has to ensure that Dutch emissions in the year 2020 will be at least 25 per cent lower than emissions in 1990. Current Dutch policy aims for a reduction of 17 per cent at most in 2020. As this is below the norm of 25 to 40 per cent for developed countries that is deemed necessary to have a real chance at preventing dangerous climate change, the Urgenda Foundation and 886 individuals had requested the court for a ruling. (more…)
16 April 2015
On 30 March 2015, a working group of current and ex-judges, advocates and professors from across the globe released the Oslo Principles on Global Climate Change Obligations. The Oslo Principles seek to overcome the political impasse which has so far obstructed agreement on defining a common international approach to climate change. They aim to ‘identify and articulate a set of Principles that comprise the essential obligations States and enterprises have to avert the critical level of global warming’. ‘These principles underscore that states have moral and legal duties to take action to avert the destructive effects of climate change’, said Thomas Pogge, Leitner Professor of Philosophy and International Affairs at Yale and the Director of Yale’s Global Justice Program. (more…)
Source: Yale | OSLO PRINCIPLES ON GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE OBLIGATIONS
Source: Legal Experts Release Oslo Principles on Global Climate Change Obligations | 30 March 2015
15 April 2015
In a ‘landmark legal case’, nearly 900 Dutch citizens have filed a claim against the Dutch government for a failure to effectively reduce greenhouse gas emissions, mitigate climate change, and for the ‘co-creation’ a dangerous future world. The action is a case of ‘firsts’; it represents both the first attempt by European citizens to hold their government accountable for inefficient climate policies, and the first use of existing human rights law to found a claim in respect of climate change. (more…)
21 March 2015
The president of Vanuatu has appealed to the international community for assistance ‘on behalf of the government and people of Vanuatu to the global community to give a lending hand in responding to … [the] calamities that have struck us’. International aid agencies have also raised the appeal. (more…)
Source: AlJazeera | Vanuatu appeals for aid in wake of devastating cyclone
Source: The Guardian | Food concerns mount in Vanuatu after cyclone Pam
Source: The Guardian | Cyclone Pam: 24 confirmed dead as Vanuatu president blames climate change