2024 as the year of international climate litigation
2024 is shaping up to be the year of international climate litigation. And the ‘rights turn’ Dean Hari Osofsky and I predicted in 2018 seems to be coming to fruition, with three of the four cases on foot before regional and international tribunals centrally featuring human rights arguments.
If you are following these cases, here’s a quick update on their status.
Written by Professor Jacqueline Peel, Director, Melbourne Climate Futures.
ICJ Advisory Opinion on the Obligations of States in Respect of Climate Change
This is the most high-profile international climate litigation on foot in 2024. It was initiated by a Vanuatu-led, UN General Assembly request to the World Court for an advisory opinion that was adopted by consensus by the General Assembly. The Court is considering both the obligations of states under international law (including international human rights law) to protect the climate, and the legal consequences of any failure to meet these obligations. The Court is continuing to receive written submissions from states and other organisations until 24 March 2024, with 24 June 2024 as the deadline for comments on those written statements. Public hearings may take place later this year but for the moment the Court has reserved its decision on subsequent procedure in the case.
ITLOS Advisory Opinion
The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) is likely to be the first cab off the rank this year in delivering an opinion in an international climate case. A request for an Advisory Opinion was referred to the Tribunal by the Commission of Small Island States on Climate Change and International Law. The request asks the Tribunal to provide an advisory opinion on the specific obligations of states party to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea relating to the prevention of marine pollution and protection of the marine environment from the effects of climate change. ITLOS concluded public hearings in the case in September last year and is now deliberating on its decision. There’s a strong expectation of a robust ruling from ITLOS supporting the notion that greenhouse gases cause marine pollution and degradation of the marine environment, consistent with the Tribunal’s reputation as a progressive, science-based judiciary.
European Court of Human Rights, Portuguese Children’s Case
This case is the only one of the international climate cases on foot that involves contentious proceedings (i.e., suing particular states). The case was initiated in September 2020 by four Portuguese children and 2 young adults against 32 European governments, alleging human rights violations (right to life, right to privacy, right not to experience discrimination) as a consequence of the governments’ inadequate action to address the climate crisis. Centrally the case addresses the expectations of children and youth and the rights of future generations to an environment that is not destroyed by climate change. The case was ‘fast-tracked’ by the Court but, even so, it was not until September last year that the case was finally heard by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. A ruling in the case is expected in the first half of 2024.
Inter-American Court of Human Rights
This is probably the least well known of the international climate cases in 2024 but potentially another landmark advisory opinion for the relationship between human rights and climate change. The advisory opinion request was brought to the Court by Chile and Colombia in January 2023 seeking clarification of the scope of state obligations for responding to the climate emergency under the frame of international human rights law. The advisory opinion request refers to an earlier advisory opinion of the Court from 2017 where it made history in finding that the right to a healthy environment is a human right. The case is still in a procedural phase with the Court having closed (in December 2023) the timeline for the submission of observations, which saw it receive a large number of amicus briefs from environmental and academic institutions.