Nome da Revista: Revista de
Direito Internacional
Classificação: A1
Dossiê Temático: International
law and climate litigation
Prazo: 31/07/2021
Titulação: Não informada.
The growing impacts of climate change have given rise to the contemporary legal challenges, namely that of compensation for damages or those related to the problematics of responsibility and liability of States and of other actors. This is, for instance, evidenced by the recent International Court of Justice judgment in the Certain Activities Carried Out by Nicaragua in the Border Area case which, even absent a specific mention of the Paris Agreement, upholds Costa Rica’s claims regarding the role of trees in gas regulation and air quality services before valuating it, or by the recent ruling of the UN Human Rights committee in the Teitiota case. In this context, it is paramount to clarify the responsibility of States in these matters and, therewith, the risks to which States are exposed. This said, States’ responsibility is not the only one that can be invoked. Private companies which feature among the largest emitters, banks and investment funds that finance such business are also exposed to liability claims. Indeed, the past several years have seen an explosion of litigation over actions or inaction related to climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts, before subnational, national, and international courts and committees, thereby pushing for more ambitious regulations, opposing regulatory steps or new plans and proposed developments, or even requesting compensation measures. According to the Sabin Center database, as of February 2020, climate change cases had been filed in 37 countries, with 1369 cases filed in the United States and over 346 cases filed in all other countries worldwhile. Climate litigation can pursue an objective of compensation—triggered ex post in relation to the damage—but more often than not it primarily aims to play a preventive role (ex ante), to push for concrete action, to press legislators and policymakers to be more ambitious in their approaches to climate change and fill the gaps left by legislative and regulatory inaction.
This new phenomenon raises interesting issues for international lawyers. How, at the international level, States have sought to avoid litigation? Nonetheless, and even though international law is rather ill-equipped to handle interstate climate disputes, could this type of litigation be brought before an international jurisdiction? What are the main hurdles? Are non-compliance mechanisms satisfactory alternatives? What are the lessons learned from the development of transnational climate litigation in the fields of investments or human rights? And how is international law used before domestic courts? Can the Paris Agreement help climate change litigation at the national level? In turn, can domestic climate litigation result in a better implementation of the Paris Agreement?
For this special issue, the Brazilian Journal of International Law welcomes contributions aiming to address climate litigation in all its forms: before international courts, tribunals, and adjudicative means of dispute resolution, including non-contentious and non-binding forms of adjudication, but also on domestic courts to the extent that international law is invoked and concerned.