Climate in the Courts

2 weeks ago | climateinthecourts.com | Dana Drugmand

A state court judge in Pennsylvania has decided to toss out a lawsuit filed by a county government last year against major oil and gas companies alleging they deceived the public about the climate change consequences of their products. The decision is the latest in a string of dismissals in similar cases brought by state and local governments targeting the fossil fuel industry, and comes at a time when the battle over efforts to hold the industry liable for climate harms in the US is heating up.

3 weeks ago | climateinthecourts.com | Dana Drugmand

Co-published with One Earth NowThe climate crisis is the single greatest global public health threat of this century, health professionals say. Human rights experts warn it poses an unprecedented risk to human rights. For the world’s poor and most vulnerable people and communities on the frontlines of climate impacts like rising seas, it is an existential crisis threatening their very survival.

4 weeks ago | climateinthecourts.com | Dana Drugmand

Courts in Canada will soon have to determine whether inadequate government climate policies amount to constitutional rights violations, as climate lawsuits brought by young Canadians against their governments move forward. In Ontario – Canada’s most populous province – a case brought by seven young applicants challenging their government’s weakened 2030 greenhouse gas emissions reduction target is nearing resolution, and potentially on the verge of a precedent-setting victory.

1 month ago | climateinthecourts.com | Dana Drugmand

This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter here. By Dana Drugmand, Inside Climate NewsThe state of Hawaii has joined an intensifying legal battle by states and communities across the country to try to hold large fossil fuel firms accountable for the damaging climate impacts of their products.

1 month ago | climateinthecourts.com | Dana Drugmand

Young climate activists in Europe and the United States who have faced setbacks in their lawsuits challenging government climate policies are continuing to turn to courts in renewed attempts at accountability, filing fresh cases and appeals as they seek to hold governments accountable for exacerbating the climate emergency. In Sweden, youth activists announced earlier this week that they are reviving their lawsuit against the Swedish government.