Environmental Rights

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Ashghar Leghari, a farmer and lawyer, sued the Pakistani government for inaction vis-a-vis climate change, claiming that this inaction, “delay, and lack of seriousness” violated the fundamental rights of life provided by the Constitution, since climate change posed a serious threat to water, food, and energy security in Pakistan. Further, Leghari argued the “effects of climate change can be addressed through mitigation and adaptation.” 

In 2022, the Philippines Human Rights Commission (hereinafter “the Commission”) released the results of a seven-year investigation into the impacts of climate change on the Philippines and the duty on states and private actors to address “the increasing frequency and severity of natural disasters.” The investigation was prompted after Greenpeace Southeast Asia and others submitted a petition to the Commission, asking it to examine the impacts of climate change through the lens of human rights violations, the role of major fossil fuel companies, and the role of states in aiding those “carbon

On 19 December 2022, the United Nations Biodiversity Conference, held in Montreal, ended with the adoption of the “Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework” (GBF), a landmark agreement on measures considered critical to address the dangerous loss of biodiversity and restore natural ecosystems.

Amidst a triple planetary crisis (climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss) with existential stakes and devastating impacts for the human rights of billions of people across regions, the universal recognition in 2022 of the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment is...

This case is a class action filed by Milieudefensie, Greenpeace NL, Fossielvrij NL, Waddenvereniging, Both ENDS, and Young Friends of the Earth NL which sued Defendant Royal Dutch Shell in the District Court of The Hague. Plaintiffs sought a ruling that RDS – parent company to Shell – must reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 45% by 2030 compared to 2019 levels, and to zero by 2050, in line with the Paris Agreement. 

On September 27, 2022, ESCR-Net’s Environment and ESCR Networkwide Project and Strategic Litigation Working Group co- hosted an online discussion on climate and human rights litigation: Ensuring access to international justice for climate-related human rights violations. Members from...

These two cases are part of a group of six cases involving Nigerian farmers seeking compensation for the environmental and livelihood damage they suffered as a result of oil leakages from Shell’s pipelines in the villages of Oruma, Goi, and Ikot Ada Udo.

Indigenous community members from the Lhaka Honhat Association sued Argentina on behalf of 132 Indigenous communities belonging to the Wichí (Mataco), Iyjwaja (Chorote), Komlek (Toba), Niwackle (Chulupí), and Tapy'y (Tapiete) peoples who live on lots with the cadastral registrations 175 and 5557 in the Province of Salta (previously known as and referred to in the case as lots 14 and 55).

The complaint was initiated against GVL in October 2012 before the RSPO. The Complaints Panel’s first decision in the case was on December 13, 2012, finding that the complaints had merit and issuing a Stop Order against GVL. Beginning in 2013, GVL was required to file quarterly reports on its activities in Liberia, including its efforts to improve its operations and to comply with later decisions from the RSPO.

Supreme Court of the Netherlands Orders State to Reduce Greenhouse Gases by at Least 25% by 2020, Compared to 1990 Levels

The claimant in this case is the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy of the State of the Netherlands (the State), who appealed in cassation from the Court of Appeal’s ruling in favor of Stichting Urgenda (Urgenda), an organization working to combat climate change.