Climate

New climate change reporting duties for Northern Ireland public bodies will come into operation in May 2024. Regulations laid in line with the landmark Climate Change Act (Northern Ireland) 2022 will require the first reports to be submitted in October 2025.

The European Court of Human Rights has published a factsheet on past and pending cases concerning climate change. The document has been published following the Strasbourg court's landmark rulings yesterday on three climate cases. The applicants were successful in one of the cases, and unsuccessful i

Switzerland is failing to meet its human rights obligations by not taking sufficient action to tackle climate change, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has ruled in a landmark case. The Strasbourg court today handed down judgments in three landmark cases, which represented the first climate

A new training programme aims to inspire, empower and support Northern Ireland lawyers providing services to clients in the emerging areas of environmental law and climate justice.

Company directors should consider their company's nature-related risks as part of their legal duties under the law of England and Wales, a legal opinion commissioned by Pollination Law and the Commonwealth Climate and Law Initiative (CCLI) has found. Authored by a team of five barristers led by Shar

A landmark legal challenge relating to the regulation of diesel car emissions in Northern Ireland returned to the High Court today for the first time since the return of devolved government. Friends of the Earth Northern Ireland, represented by The Public Interest Litigation Support (PILS) Project a

Friends of the Earth Northern Ireland and Queen’s University Belfast have launched a new film charting the ups and downs of the campaign for Northern Ireland’s first climate change law. The film, ACT NOW! The race to get a Climate Act for Northern Ireland, which launched this morning, ex

Belgium has become the first country in Europe to criminalise ecocide on a national and international level. A new penal code backed by Belgium's federal parliament yesterday provides for imprisonment of up to 20 years for individuals guilty of ecocide, and fines of up to €1.6 million for corpo

The UK has said it will withdraw from the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) in a move welcomed by climate campaigners who say the treaty is an obstacle to climate action. Signed in 1994, the ECT was designed to promote international investment in the energy sector, historically providing protections for i

Amnesty International has called for a fund to remedy the harms faced by communities affected by climate change to be established after higher-income states missed a deadline to nominate their representatives to its board. Following the hottest year ever recorded globally the need for action is "acu

Applications are now open for the Niamh Burke Memorial Bursary, which will award a total of €10,000 to students pursuing studies linked to climate action and renewable energy in Ireland. Candidates can apply here for the bursary until 5pm, Friday 15 March.

The Law Society of Northern Ireland has published its first-ever sustainability strategy in a bid to promote and enhance the role of solicitors in tackling climate change. The 11-page document was drawn up with the assistance of KPMG's ESG team and the Law Society's climate justice group, which was

COP28 in Dubai has agreed on the need to move away from fossil fuels for the first time at the end of a climate summit marred by restrictions on civil society and the United Arab Emirates’ "blatant contempt" for human rights, Amnesty International said. The headline COP28 agreement on the Glob

A properly resourced planning system is crucial to delivering climate justice, the Law Society of Ireland's first-ever climate justice conference will hear this afternoon. The Policies and Action for a Climate Responsive Justice Sector conference, taking place in Blackhall Place from 2pm–6pm t

A first-of-its-kind judicial review aimed at forcing Northern Ireland's Department of Infrastructure to resume carrying out exhaust emissions tests on diesel cars has been delayed until January. The case brought by Friends of the Earth NI with support from The PILS Project was expected to return to