Climate

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

As global temperatures rise and the effects of climate change become more pronounced, countries around the world are witnessing a surge in climate-related litigation. Irish Legal News delves into this growing trend, exploring key cases and shifts in global attitudes. The journey of international cli

A first-of-its-kind judicial review being heard in Northern Ireland's High Court today aims to force the Department of Infrastructure to resume carrying out exhaust emissions tests on diesel cars for the first time in nearly two decades. Hundreds of thousands of diesel cars have never received a leg

The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC) has published a new podcast featuring Ian Fry, the UN special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change. The episode, exploring the topic of climate change and human rights, is the second in the ri

The Irish government has been urged to heed a new UN report identifying the climate crisis as "an urgent and systemic threat to children's rights globally". The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child yesterday launched its general comment on children's rights and the environment, which considers th

An Bord Pleanála has refused planning permission for a proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal on the Shannon estuary. The proposed €650 million project "would be contrary to current government policy, and in the absence of such policy support... would be contrary to the proper pla

California has filed a lawsuit against major oil and gas companies, alleging that they misled the public regarding the dangers associated with fossil fuels in one of a deluge of climate cases being brought around the world. The legal action also calls for the establishment of a fund, underwritten by