Search Climate Insights Directory

The report advocates for a 'New Security Agenda' that treats clean energy and ecosystem health as critical national security infrastructure. It argues that breaching planetary boundaries and relying on volatile fossil fuel markets create systemic risks to food security, public health, and economic stability. The authors call for binding legislative measures to phase out fossil fuels, the adoption of national restoration plans for biodiversity, and the alignment of public budgets to eliminate environmentally harmful subsidies.

The report synthesizes interviews with 25 climate litigation practitioners to identify critical gaps in scientific evidence needed for legal accountability. It highlights ten research priorities, including advances in end-to-end attribution science, quantification of noneconomic loss and damage, and the impact of industry disinformation. The authors also detail barriers to integrating science in courts, such as the 'resource imbalance' between public-interest lawyers and industry defendants, the differing standards of 'certainty' between science and law, and political interference in the judiciary.

The Tsarafara community, operating as a Vondron’Olona Ifotony (VOI), successfully defended its management of the Andriankely Tsiazompaniry forest against a private land claim in the Court of Cassation of the Supreme Court of Madagascar in 2024. The case highlights the critical role of legal personality and 'intérêt à agir' (legal interest to sue) in ensuring local communities can access justice to protect conserved areas. The document argues that Madagascar's contribution to the global 30x30 target depends not only on expanding conserved areas but on securing the rights of the communities managing them, a priority reflected in the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) 2026-2030.

The document argues that legal recognition of rivers as entities with personhood rights is a catalyst for transforming environmental governance, but it is insufficient on its own to ensure ecological or social outcomes. Drawing on cases from Bangladesh and Colombia, the brief identifies critical implementation gaps, including a lack of operational clarity, fragmented governance, and the marginalization of local community knowledge. It recommends that effective river governance requires clearly defined legal obligations, coordinated institutional leadership, inclusive multi-stakeholder participation, and integrated social and ecological health indicators, all supported by long-term financial resourcing.

ClientEarth opposes the revision of the Water Framework Directive (WFD), arguing that current evidence supports full implementation over legislative changes. The organization warns that weakening the WFD would undermine legal certainty, jeopardize freshwater ecosystems, and shift economic costs from polluters to society. It specifically highlights risks from the mining sector and argues that the current revision process fails to comply with the European Commission's Better Regulation Guidelines.

ClientEarth argues that the MSFD has failed to achieve Good Environmental Status (GES) by its 2020 deadline and proposes a revision that turns GES into a binding 'obligation of result'. The response calls for clear, quantifiable EU-wide thresholds, the introduction of interim targets, and a strict non-deterioration obligation. It emphasizes the need for policy coherence between the MSFD and the proposed Ocean Act, as well as the alignment of fisheries management and climate obligations with marine protection. Furthermore, it advocates for dedicated funding streams and the introduction of robust compliance mechanisms, including access to justice, dissuasive penalties, and a right to compensation for damages resulting from breaches of the directive.

The document examines the systemic failure to apply the Polluter-Pays Principle (PPP) to PFAS pollution, noting that clean-up costs in Europe could exceed €100 billion annually. It proposes a framework where the PPP covers legacy, present, and future pollution—regardless of legality—and targets both producers and users. The authors advocate for a combination of taxes, Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes, and risk-pooling funds to prevent public funds from bearing the cost of remediation, while emphasizing that the PPP must be paired with a total phase-out of PFAS.

The report identifies significant gaps in the criminal justice response to tiger trafficking in Southeast Asia, noting that while arrests are frequent in some countries, they rarely lead to convictions. Indonesia is highlighted as a model for transparency due to its publicly accessible sentencing records, which reveal that successful prosecutions rely on interagency coordination and forensic evidence. However, the report finds that most prosecuted individuals are low-to-mid-level actors, while high-level organisers remain elusive. The authors recommend increasing judicial transparency, diversifying legal strategies to include anti-money laundering and organised crime statutes, and implementing restorative justice mechanisms to repair ecological harm.

The submission argues that Canada's first environmental justice strategy must move beyond focusing solely on landfills and polluting industries to address systemic laws, policies, and practices. The authors emphasize the need for disaggregated population exposure data, the integration of an equity lens across all government departments, and the centering of Indigenous legal orders. They specifically warn that expedited approvals for major projects and increased fossil fuel extraction could exacerbate environmental racism if the strategy is not robustly implemented and resourced.

Civil society organizations have issued a legal notice (somasi) to President Prabowo, urging the immediate declaration of a national disaster status following devastating floods and landslides in Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra. As of December 8, 2025, the BNPB reported 974 deaths and 298 missing persons, with tens of thousands displaced. The coalition argues that the disasters were driven by excessive and illegal private sector exploitation, categorizing these actions as 'Ecocide Crimes'. They demand central government intervention for reconstruction and a comprehensive investigation into the structural causes and corporate beneficiaries behind the environmental destruction.

The document details how executive orders and proposed legislation are being used to install surveillance technology in public parks and transfer land jurisdiction to the U.S. Army for border enforcement. It highlights the impact of these policies on civil liberties, indigenous sovereignty, and environmental conservation, specifically citing the Everglades detention center and the San Rafael Valley border wall.

The document argues that civic space in the EU is narrowing due to restrictive laws, exclusion from decision-making, and the criminalisation of peaceful activism. It highlights specific threats such as SLAPPs, funding cuts to the LIFE programme, and national laws in France, Hungary, Poland, and Italy that curtail CSO operations. ClientEarth calls for a pro-CSO narrative, transparent access to decision-making, and stable long-term financial support to safeguard environmental democracy.

ClientEarth warns that further delays to the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), currently set to apply to the private sector on 30 December 2025, would cause significant environmental damage and create legal vulnerabilities. The document asserts that such delays lack proper impact assessments and conflict with EU environmental protection principles, the principle of legitimate expectations for businesses that have already invested in compliance, and international law regarding State climate obligations as clarified by a 2025 ICJ Advisory Opinion.

The guidebook serves as a tool for Mozambican communities to safeguard traditional knowledge through legal mechanisms, including Geographic Indicators registration via the Institute for Industrial Property and Access and Benefit Sharing regulations via the National Directorate of the Environment. It also provides guidance on documenting traditional knowledge and developing Community Protocols, while noting that legal frameworks are currently evolving as of February 2025.

Friends of the Earth International argues that transnational corporations drive the climate crisis through legal loopholes and voluntary codes of conduct. The organization advocates for a UN Binding Treaty that establishes legally enforceable obligations for companies to prevent environmental harm, recognize the right to a healthy environment as a human right, and provide full reparations for ecological damage, moving beyond corporate self-regulation and 'greenwashing'.

The submission argues that South Africa's draft second NDC lacks sufficient ambition and fails to reflect the 'highest possible ambition' required by the Paris Agreement. It proposes more stringent emission targets—350 Mt CO2e for 2025-2030 and 248 Mt CO2e for 2031-2035—based on 'fair share' calculations and the best available science. The document highlights legal risks under the South African Constitution, the Climate Change Act, and NEMA, while criticizing the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) for a non-transparent process that delayed the release of the underlying technical report. It further calls for a stronger focus on phasing out fossil fuels, enhancing climate adaptation for vulnerable groups, and incorporating climate justice principles from the Presidential Climate Commission's recommendations.

The Queensland Land Court ruled that its recommendations on mining and environmental applications are subject to the procedural and substantive requirements of the Human Rights Act 2019 (QHRA). This decision followed a challenge by Youth Verdict and other environmental groups against Waratah Coal Pty Ltd's proposed Galilee Project, which intended to mine 1.4 billion tonnes of coal over 25 years. The Court rejected Waratah Coal's arguments that its recommendations were not 'acts' or 'decisions' under the QHRA and that it lacked jurisdiction to evaluate human rights. Consequently, on 25 November 2022, the Court recommended that the Minister for Environment and the Minister for Mining and Resources reject Waratah Coal's applications for an environmental authority permit and a mining lease.

The report examines the three types of non-deterioration obligations in the Nature Restoration Regulation (NRL): continuous improvement, non-deterioration of good status, and pre-restoration non-deterioration. It argues that these obligations are not merely effort-based but require 'appropriate measures' and are essential for the long-term success of ecosystem restoration. The analysis highlights the interplay between the NRL and the Habitats Directive, particularly regarding Natura 2000 sites, and critiques the uniform National Restoration Plan (NRP) format for providing inadequate guidance on demonstrating compliance with these obligations. It also details the strict criteria for derogations, such as force majeure and overriding public interest, emphasizing that they must be interpreted narrowly to avoid undermining overall restoration targets.

A coalition of organizations opposes a proposed $46.5 billion allocation for U.S. border wall construction, arguing that existing barriers have wasted billions of taxpayer dollars, harmed border communities, and destroyed biodiverse ecosystems. The letter highlights the lack of effectiveness of the wall, the violation of tribal and private land rights, and the systematic waiving of 83 federal laws to expedite construction. The signatories urge Congress to instead fund remediation of existing damage and rescind the REAL ID Act waivers.

The Trump administration proposed on April 17 to rescind regulations under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) that prohibit significant habitat modification or degradation. Earthjustice contends that habitat destruction is the primary cause of extinction and that this proposal undermines essential protections for wildlife. The document also notes the administration's interest in using the 'God Squad' committee to waive protections and the Interior Secretary's suggestion that lab-created facsimiles could replace endangered species.