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THE AGE OF JUDICIAL ENVIRONMENTALISM

Our planet is undergoing serious pattern disruptions, in the most obvious ways. Climate change is no longer a matter of debate as it was some 25 years back, today it stands as an emphatic truth. But why people and authorities aren’t inspirited to address such a serious global crisis. Why are countries so perfunctory about international climate action initiatives and more insouciant to its domestic realization. We are in complete denial, thinking that climate change is not something of urgency and can be procrastinated. This dereliction of duty will get us out ahead of our ability to manage the existing climate emergency. It is time for us to gear up with the lens of Environmentalism and enkindling our survival instinct.


Credit: Data: Luthi, D., et al.. 2008; Etheridge, D.M., et al. 2010; Vostok ice core data/J.R. Petit et al.; NOAA Mauna Loa CO2 record. Some description adapted from the Scripps CO2 Program website, "Keeling Curve Lessons."

Our Very Own Environmental Catastrophe 

Earth’s biosphere is warming up at an unprecedented level due to increased greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. The heat so trapped is absorbed majorly (i.e. 90%) by water in the oceans and seas. This absorption is what has resulted in the global sea-level rise. Coastal cities and small islands stand most vulnerable to the soaring sea and have started to feel thalassic episodes. Global sea level has been rising continuously making an addition at the rate of 3.3 millimeters per year. The trapped heat increases global mean temperature only to escalate the melting of glacier and ice sheets in the poles. Melting of ice accounts for two-thirds of the global sea-level rise which also includes fading glaciers of Alaska, Asian High Mountains, South American Ranges and ice covers in Canada and Greenland. Thermal expansion of water molecules in the ocean tot up to global sea-level rise (warm water takes up more space).[i]

Global warming is also resulting in unusual patterns of frequent and intense weather events. An excessively warm atmosphere tends to create intense heat waves, engendering more heated days and nights. In a warmer climate evaporation process also increases to result in serious Drought conditions. Then these drying fields and forests are at a greater risk of catching wildfires. The increased water evaporation can lead to extreme rains and storms only to result in flooding.


Credit: NASA/JPL



Coastal Inundation

Sea-level is rising 50% faster than what it has been in the last 20 years.[ii] It is the small island states that stand the test of climate change. These islands are under grave existential threat as their land descends to the sea. Tuvalu, Republic of Kiribati, Palau, Solomon Islands, Carteret Islands, Fiji, Maldives and Seychelles have the most pressing case against climate change. These are the low lying landmasses of the earth, bearing the brunt of Global warming and ironically being the region with the lowest carbon footprint.[iii] Ioane Teitiota and family from the Republic of Kiribati are the very first “Climate Refugees” in the world (Applied for refugee status in New Zealand with a claim; “based on climate changes related sea level rising and other environmental alterations in Kiribati).[iv]

Coastal cities are next in the discussion of the rising sea vulnerability. Coastal cities around the world are in general the most populated. These seaside cities are prone to climate-induced severe storms, coastal flooding, increased precipitation, warmer temperature and ocean acidity to list a few. Shoreline erosion, coastal flooding and salinization (saltwater intrusion) of natural freshwater aquifers are even more immediate concerns. Miami (USA), Jakarta (Indonesia), Shanghai (China), California (USA), New York (USA), Guangzhou (China), Ho-Chi Minh City (Vietnam), Mumbai (India), Hong Kong (China), Kolkata (India), Tokyo (Japan), Singapore, Osaka (Japan) and Venice (Italy) are the high risked coastal metropolises sitting on climatically fragile bases.[v]



Sinking Deltas

River deltas are highly inhabited areas and the most environmentally imperiled region of the world. These low lying geographies are prone to many climate-related catastrophes from bank erosion, flooding, landslides and salinization. Deltas are highly susceptible to rising sea because of the continuous loss of sediments that make them up. The major reason for the loss of sediments in deltas is the establishment of big hydropower projects. Mississippi, Nile, Ganges and Mekong are some of the world’s largest deltas, currently under the threat of inundation.[vi] Mekong River, which originates from the Tibetan plateau and stretches across six south-east Asian nations (the 12 largest in the world and the 7th longest river in Asia). Mekong delta homes about 22% of the total Vietnamese population and 50% of countries food cultivation situate around the delta (the area produces around 56% of Vietnamese rice cultivation, accounting for 6% of the world total rice stock).[vii] Massive flooding and seawater inundation of farmland have caused an exodus of people from coastal areas to the inland.

The Ganges and Brahmaputra delta harboring Bangladesh and parts of India is marked with a red flag when it comes to harsh weather events. The geographical setting of Bangladesh is such that 2/3 of Bangladesh is less than 5 meters above sea level. It experiences more severe tropical storms, erratic rainfall, river flooding and landslides in the world, which is now even more intense with climate change. It is low lying, higher population density with inadequate infrastructure country that relies heavily on farming (70%). Scientists have estimated that by 2050 with a projected rise of 50 cm in the sea level. Bangladesh will lose approximately 11% of its land with 15 million people becoming climate refugees.[viii] Even now around 2000 people move daily to Dhaka from coastal regions. This number increases twofold in the wet season. It is also important to note that Dhaka itself is situated on alluvial flood plains.[ix]

Louisiana on the Mississippi River delta in the USA is no different in fact with a relatively higher degree sea level rise (8 inches or more in the last 50 years). Louisiana lost around 2000 square miles of wetlands in recent decades. Human interventions to the Mississippi River system and excess groundwater extraction are to be blamed as it causes the land beneath to sink.[x] Isle De Jean Charles Island under Louisiana jurisdiction has lost 98% of its land to sea, since 1955.[xi] Nile has the same story to tell.

Credit: NASA/JPL


The Asia-Pacific Distress[xii] Climate change has hit Asia-Pacific the hardest of all other places on the earth. This is because of its strategic placement on the globe. You can understand the intensity by the fact that the world’s deadliest tropical storms have all occurred in this region (35/36) and out of which the majority being in the Bay of Bengal (23/36).[xiii] Extensive coastline predominantly low lying areas with some of the world largest river systems makes Asia the more susceptible to climate change. We have already discussed the high vulnerability of Bangladesh (Ganges-Brahmaputra delta) and Vietnam (Mekong Delta) to climate-induced harsh weather events. On average, climate extremities like storms, floods, and landslides kills about 43,000 people in Asia-Pacific each year. From Drought, heatwaves to intense flooding, storms and landslides, Asia subject to all kinds of weather extremities. As per the scientific prediction, sea level will rise to 2.1 ft. by the end of this century thereby displacing over 180 million people, mostly of them from Asia. Unpredictable weather pattern and salinization of soil have drastically affected food cultivation, raising serious concern for food security in the region.  

Permafrost Disintegration

It isn’t just the coastal or flood plains that are defenseless against climate change. The scientific community indicates that it’s the colder region that has become the cauldron for climate change, the Arctic, Alaska, and Northern Russia. Melting down of permafrost and sinking of land it is. Studies have revealed that the Arctic is warming up much faster than the rest of the world. In the Northeast Siberian region near the Kolyma River, there is clear evidence of permafrost melting. With the earth heating up unprecedentedly, all of this frozen land is sliding down into the river. This degradation of permafrost is resulting in the release of a huge amount of carbon dioxide and methane to the environment which was stored within for thousands of year. This stored biomass is estimated to be four times greater than what is emitted combine by all in modern time.[xiv] The rate of melting of permafrost in the summer season has increased incessantly due to rising temperature. Presently temperature in North-Eastern Siberia has risen as high as 30 degree Celsius, thawing its permafrost two to three meters deep every summer.[xv] Permafrost degradation negatively impact the ability of the ground underneath to carry the structural load.[xvi] This will further escalate the pace of climate change.



Credit: NASA Climate 365 project. Photo credits: Photographed by William O. Field on Aug. 13, 1941 (left) and by Bruce F. Molnia on Aug. 31, 2004 (right)

US Government in 2003 reported that there are 200 Native Villages of Alaska that are being affected by flooding or erosion to a varying degree.[xvii] Arctic sea ice act as a natural barrier for the Alaskan communities from storms originating in the Bering and the Chukchi Sea. But due to the continuous decrease in Arctic sea ice formation, these communities stand a risk of flooding and destruction by storm. The region is experiencing alterations in the overall ecology along with changes in vegetation pattern and migration pattern. Changes in the ocean’s circulation pattern, increased acidity level and temperature are also negatively affecting the region’s marine life.[xviii]

New Age Liquid Gold

Climate change has transformed weather patterns leading to extreme weather events that have disrupted natural water cycles. As per WRI’s Aqueduct study, the planet is facing serious water scarcity. Earth’s water composition is such that 97% of it is the saltwater that is held in oceans, 2% is present in form of frozen fresh water and only the remaining 1% is fresh water in liquid form (open on surface water reserves- Rivers, ponds, lakes etc. & underground water reserves).[xix] Underground water reserves are called aquifers, it takes million years for water to deposit in these aquifers. According to the report, there are 17 countries that fall under the extremely high level of water stress, accounting for 1/4 of the world’s population (with 80% extraction of underground water). Another 1/3 of the world population is placed under a high stressed level where the extraction from underground water reserve is around 40% on a yearly average. 12 out of 17 of these most water-stressed countries are from the Middle East and North African region.[xx] There are also countries that might come lower on the chart of water-stressed nations but their specific cities are in acute shortage of drinking water. Mexico City is one of many such cities. Mexico City is the world’s largest cities with a population of around 21 million. Even though Mexico City receives heavy rains, leading to flash floods in rainy season floods and quite ironically it is experiencing a paucity of water.[xxi] Government’s statistics agency in its 2017 National Household Survey reported that in Mexico City only 79% of households have a daily water supply. Some 11% of homes can only get water two or fewer times a week. To fulfil more and more requirement of water, immoderate pumping of water is done from its natural aquifers which is adding up to the problem for the city as this excessive pumping is causing the land beneath to sink.[xxii]

Cape Town is another highly water-stressed city in the world. In 2018 Cape Town was on the verge of running out of freshwater reserves, becoming the world’s very first city to be facing its Day Zero. Though this was averted by effective civic water management and unexpected heavy rainfall did the rest. Major cities like São Paulo, Jakarta, London, Beijing, Bangalore, Cairo, Istanbul, Tokyo, Moscow and Miami will be facing their own Day Zero in the coming few decades.[xxiii]

The North African region faces exacerbating water crisis as Lake Chad dries up. Lake Chad is the only freshwater source in the region (supplying water to Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria, in particular). Once Africa’s largest freshwater lake has now shrunk profoundly. The lake that stood for about 25000 square km in 1963, covered an area of less than 2500 square kilometers in the year 2007.[xxiv] Drying up of the lake is threatening subsistence of around 50 million people, pushing the region further into poverty and conflicts.[xxv]  Dafur being the world’s first war over water.[xxvi] Sahil dessert region is quickly expanding as the arable land turns arid. Cameroon in central Africa too is experiencing its worst drought. It only gets two months of rainfall maximum for the year-long (August-September). Jordan is another high water-stressed nation on the African Continent.[xxvii]

Credit: NASA Earth Observatory charts by Joshua Stevens, using data provided by Churchill Okonkwo


Forest Hell Fires

Extensively dry weather resulting from climate change alterations and warming atmosphere has been responsible for intensive bushfires around the world. The most devastating record was witnessed in the 2019 Australian bushfire which resulted in the death of around 34 people with many more being injured, 3000 or more homes being destroyed, burning of 11 million hectares of land and a great loss of wildlife.[xxviii] Bush fire ignition has no direct relation with climate change and most of these ignitions are caused by human activities. But global warming-induced dry and hot climate with wind conditions make these ignitions more susceptible to turning into bush fires. Warm weather increases the scale and duration of forest fires, making them worse. Bush fire-prone areas are spread across the globe. This is happening all around from the fires in Amazon rainforest to wildfires in the Arctic region, burning of areas in Serbia, Greenland and Alaska and the sub-Sahara African bushfire.[xxix]

International Environmental Code

Climate change is not futuristic a concept. It is very much in the present, being experienced globally in some way or the other. The continuous exploitation of the ecology has resulted in our vulnerability and this is going to get worse, if not managed effectively. We have long crossed the stage of climate change prevention. Addressing climate change is all about developing on aspects of climate change mitigation and its adaptability. Climate Change Mitigation concerns national commitments to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Whereas Climate Adaptability focuses on the ability to adapt to the changes brought about by climate change. It is the government that has to develop a climate adaptation model that strengthens an individual’s ability to withstand climate change impact in ecological, social as well as economic terms.

Photo Credit: Davi Mendes on Unsplash

The International Environmental jurisprudence has a brief history of almost about 25 years. In the 1970s, for the first time, environmental scientists and the international community started to realize the need for ecological conservation and became vocal about climate change. Ever since there have been attempts to meet the needs of environment management and bind the national governments to their environmental obligations. Numerous environment conventions have been deliberated and entered into by states, either as soft law (mere declaration) or hard law (have a binding effect). International Environment Governance started to unfold with the establishment of Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 1988 under the United Nations framework on the recommendation of G -7. The IPCC has to undertake scientific study of climate change and its impact. The 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro marked an important event as the international community signed of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), officially recognizing global warming, its risk and the need to contain it. Since 1995 Conference of Parties (COP) (by Member states of the UN) are being organized every year to discuss and ratify climate-related conventions. States have signed series of convections relating to reduction in global carbon emissions, from 1997’s Kyoto Protocol (reducing GHGs by 5.2% for 2008-2012 period), successor 2009 Copenhagen Conference ( declaring the maximum limit of increase in global temperature, no consensus for GHGs emission reduction limit) and Cancun Climate Change Conference (establishing Green Climate Fund for developing countries).[xxx]Theses have not been very fruitful in terms of reaching consensus for a working plan to their realization. There have been many other significant conventions negotiated between states concerning biodiversity conservation, ozone layer depletion convention and various pollution prevention treats have also been concluded on the international level.

The COP21, Paris Agreement in 2015[xxxi] is considered to be the most successful of all other climate-related treaties. The success lies in its comprehensive drafting and universal consensus for climate-related commitments by member states (adopted by nearly 200 countries). The signatories to the agreement (187 states) have committed to individually reduce GHGs emission at the national level plan to keep global temperature much below 2 degree Celsius and to further push it to a 1.5 degree Celsius. Each country has set its tailor-made emission cut plan called National Determined Contributions to be reviewed every 5 years. The agreement incorporates different climate-related commitments by and beyond 2020 with 2030 as the target year. The Paris Agreement is a dynamic framework advocating a total revamp of national policies, states to critically modify their markets, develop green technology and enhance capacity building for climate change. It also discusses climate financing, the responsibility of rich- industrialized countries to help the poor-vulnerable nation to climate adaptability. Though there have been some slowing down in carbon emission as a collective whole but we still have a lot to do to reach the “climate-safe” threshold. What we lack in the international environmental law regime is a well-founded and coordinated climate change action plan.

Judicial Environmentalism



Photo Credit: Tania Malrechauffe on Unsplash

The political indifference and legislative failure to enact a rigorous national environment protection regime have necessitated climate-conscious citizens to look to courts for climate justice. Judiciary from across the globe are increasingly adopting the practice of judicial activism in environmental crisis to employ a broader perspective in public good. Courts are guided by the ethos of justice, fair play and not by profit-making agenda. The universal judicial principle of constitutionalism and rule of law further aid in providing a standardized common ground to build global judicial consensus on climate justice. Judges are considered as the guardian of constitutional basic principles and expert of jurisprudence. These qualities help them to effectively interrelate climate change cause of action with constitutionally protected rights and traditional human rights framework in a triangulated approach. In the celebrated case of Leghari v. Federation of Pakistan[xxxii], the observation made by the court was that the fundamental right to life includes right to a healthy and clean environment to be read with constitutional principles of democracy, equality, social, economic and political justice; in compliance with international environmental law principles of sustainable development, precautionary principle, environmental impact assessment, public trust doctrine and intergenerational equity. The Supreme Court of Philippines held in line with the above thinking that the right to a balanced & healthy environment is a universally recognized fundamental right and need not require to be documented under any constitution as this right was developed as it is from the inception of humankind (Oposa v. Factoran).[xxxiii] A man’s surrounding is an essential component of his living, therefore, it must remain unimpaired.

Climate change jurisprudence is a concept cultured by developed countries with a core focus on mitigation. Its evolution of climate change jurisprudence into a coherent legal regime is to be credited to third world countries especially Asia. There has been an increasing trend of climate litigations in the Asia-Pacific region, demanding court's intervention in pressing states to honor their constitutional as well legal obligations to do what is necessary for protecting its national ecology.[xxxiv] In Uganda Foundation vs the State of Netherlands[xxxv], a suit was filed against the Dutch government for not fulfilling its legal obligation under ECHR. The court held that the state has a duty to take climate change mitigation measures seriously due to the severity of its consequences with such great risk of climate change happening and directed the government to increase its reduction in GHGs emissions to 25% which the government otherwise pledged to reduce 17% of its emission of GHGs. The Inuit Petition to Inter-American Commission on Human Rights is yet another climate case where an affected community has taken recourse to court in the exercise of their right to be heard against the government. The suit filed against federal government of the United States of America in an attempt by the Alaskan Community to obtain relief for Human rights violation due to climate change effect that is a direct result of  government’s acts and omissions.  

M.C. Mehta, India’s eminent environmentalist who has had his role in developing an Environmental Law Regime in the country. With a legacy of environmental suits, invoking Public Interest Litigation under the constitutional law provision that calls for active judicial activism, he lionized the concept. There exist series of legal indictments relating to the environment under MC Mehta v. Union of India banner, that includes degradation of Taj Mahal [xxxvi] by industrial pollution case, Ganga Pollution Case[xxxvii], Oleum Gas Leak Suit[xxxviii] , Groundwater Pollution[xxxix] and Vehicular Pollution PIL[xl]. Domestic courts have veered to adopt the judicial approach of incorporating international environmental law principles, adjudicating matters of public interest in the most functional ways to benefit the larger populace. The Supreme Court of India in Vellore Citizens Welfare Forum v. Union of India[xli], established that the precautionary and polluters pay principles are part of the environmental jurisprudence of India. The court elaborated that it is the fundamental right of the citizen under Article 21 and fundamental duties of the state under Article 47, 48A and 51A(g) of the constitution that enables its adoption. The concerned tanneries were held under the burden of proof to evince no environmental degradation from their activities and liable to pay for past pollution. International covenants and general principles are imperative instrumentalities to interpret national laws into developing norms that dilate constitutional protection regime, guided by its international obligations in conformity with its international obligation. The Apex Court of India in Vishakha &Ors. v. State of Rajasthan &Ors.[xlii], in reference to CEDAW, ruled that “international conventions and norms are to be read into, in the absence of domestic law in the concerned field and where there is no inconsistency between them”. A similar trend of judicial construction of domestic law from international law can be observed in many other jurisdictions. (Bangladesh National Women’s Lawyer Association v. Government of Bangladesh, Supreme Court of Bangladesh[xliii]; Lee Lai Ching v. Lim Hooi Teik [xliv] {Malaysia}).

For affixation of environmental liabilities, courts are increasingly seeing a state’s unilateral declarations as a source of law independent of any other International sources of treaties, customs or general principles. The International Court of Justice in Nuclear Tests (Australia v. France) case[xlv], observed that “when it is the intention of the state making a declaration, it should become bound by it, that particular intentions confer on the declaration the character of a legal undertaking and the state is required to conduct its course inconsistent with the declaration. Further, the court lists out essential elements that make such unilateral declarations legally binding; (i) should be publicly made (ii) stated in clear and specific terms (iii) manifesting the will to be bound, the factual circumstances in which they are made be such that it signifies consent (iv) made by an authority vested with the power to do so (v) must not conflict with jus cogen (general International law)”. Member to the Paris Agreement can be dragged in their respective courts as they stand legally obligated to fulfil their commitments. Under the Paris Agreement, Article 4.2 requires state parties to prepare and submit their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and to pursue domestic mitigation measures. The Australian court had reiterated the principle, observing that ratification of a convention provides a basis for legitimate expectation, absent indications to the contrary, that the executive branch of government will act in conformity with the convention.[xlvi] Even the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties imposes an interim obligation on signatories who have not otherwise ratified a treaty.[xlvii]

States which are not parties to the convention, with no legal commitment otherwise can still be made bound by the obligation with the application of international customary law principles. The principle of good faith and prevention principle that dictates states should regulate and ensure activities within their jurisdiction to not damage the environment beyond its territorial boundary. These principles are in line with the practice of environmental due diligence, that is the duty to conduct an environmental impact assessment of activities and the risk involved prior to its engagement.[xlviii] 

Conclusion

In the time of political inertia to climate change, judges are taking up the role of environmental crisis managers, holding governments accountable for their legal obligation to formulate policy framework in response to climate change. They have significantly advanced environmental jurisprudence by being responsive to scientific evidences, indulging in judicial fact-finding about climate change. Jurists from different jurisdictions are employing a new level of consciousness and imaginative faculty to climate matters, guiding it to a national discourse of climate change policy-ing. This Judicial Environmentalism alone can’t deter climate change and suffers its own limitations. The concept of Jurisdiction is the first one, responsible for impeding environmental enforcement and adjudication. Jurisdiction defines the territory within which a court or an authority can properly exercise its power. Only when jurisdiction is established for the concerning rules and regulations, accountability can be fixed. Climate and environmental related matters up until very recently were not considered a subject matter of international governance. Environment law was strictly a domestic affair. But with augmenting climate-induced extremities affecting increasingly large no. of people from across different countries it has started to advance internationally. Climate change adjudication is also rendered inefficacious due to the prevalence of stark social inequality, where a large portion of the world population lives without fundamental access to courts and justice. 

The Current international climate response is nowhere near meeting the set targets of limiting global mean temperature to 1.5 degree Celsius (pre-industrialisation temperature). The effective remedial response to the climate change crisis is for states to take up globally coordinated efforts for climate governance. To develop an authoritative international environmental regime we need stronger and conscious domestic environmental acumen. States should enhance their national climate response system by ameliorating climate change policy framework. Many countries have started to work up their climate efforts in line with Paris Agreement. New Zealand has committed itself to reach net-zero by 2050, so has Sweden. Countries have indicated their plan of action to ban fossil-fuelled cars (UK, France, Germany Etc.)[xlix]. The Government of France also announced its plan to make production and exploration of oil and gas illegal under its territory (including overseas territory) with existing drilling permits to expire by 2040.[l] There has been a significant decline in national-energy related Co2 emissions. Countries have been progressively moving for their power generation reliance from fossil fuel (especially coal) to renewable energy. An alliance of 20 countries, the Power Past Coal Alliance have been formed to accelerate coal phase-out.[li] Denmark has robustly engaged itself in providing a comprehensive climate protection regime. Denmark’s climate legislation serves as a prototype to other nation-states committed to tackling climate change. It is an enactment in line with Paris Agreement commitments making the government directly liable and accountable for its failure to formulate/enact and implement climate change measures under the said act. This accountability may result in the government stepping down. States must promote climate advocacy and develop environmental jurisprudence that is needed to respond to something as urgent, as overpowering as Climate change.

 

 

 

 


 

END NOTES

[i] Rising Waters, How Nasa is Monitoring Sea Level Rise, available at: https://www.nasa.gov/specials/sea-level-rise-2020/

[ii] Sea levels are rising faster, driven by Greenland melt,  June 26 2017, By Tim Wallace, Cosmos, available at: https://cosmosmagazine.com/climate/sea-levels-are-rising-faster-driven-by-greenland-melt/

[iv] Ioane Teitiota v. New Zealand, CCPR/C/127/D/2728/2016), UN Human Rights Committee (HRC), 7 January 2020, available at: https://www.refworld.org/cases,HRC,5e26f7134.html

[v] Rising Seas Threaten Low-Lying Coastal Cities, 10% of World Population, by Center for International Earth Science Information Network, on October 25 2019, available at: https://news.climate.columbia.edu/2019/10/25/rising-seas-low-lying-coastal-cities/

[vi] World's Major Deltas Threatened By Climate Change, September 27 2019, By Jeff Opperman, Forbes, Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffopperman/2019/09/27/worlds-major-deltas-threatened-by-climate-change-and-also-by-how-we-develop-power-systems/

[vii] Climate Change and its Effects on the Mekong Delta, Available at: https://www.arcgis.com/apps/Cascade/index.html?appid=3857a555fc89438fa3139e06136badad

[viii] Climate Displacement in Bangladesh, Environmental Justice Foundation, available at: https://ejfoundation.org/reports/climate-displacement-in-bangladesh 

[ix] Dhaka: the city where climate refugees are already a reality, The Guardian, available at: www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/dec/01/dhaka-city-climate-refugees-reality

[xi] The First Official Climate Refugees in the U.S. Race Against Time, May 25 2016, By Carolyn Van Houten, National Geographic, available at: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/160525-isle-de-jean-charles-louisiana-sinking-climate-change-refugees

[xii] Climate change in Asia and the Pacific. What’s at stake?, September 5 2019, UN Development Programme, available at: https://undp.medium.com/climate-change-in-asia-and-the-pacific-whats-at-stake-47c7b0de5ade

[xiii] The 36 Deadliest Tropical Cyclones in World History, Weather Underground, available at: https://www.wunderground.com/hurricane/articles/deadliest-tropical-cyclones

[xiv] The Arctic may have crossed key threshold, emitting billions of tons of carbon into the air, in a long-dreaded climate feedback, December 11 2019, By Andrew Freedman, The Washington Post, available at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2019/12/10/arctic-may-have-crossed-key-threshold-emitting-billions-tons-carbon-into-air-long-dreaded-climate-feedback/

[xv] What happens when permafrost melts?, August 26 2019, By Anna Sorokina, available at: https://www.rbth.com/science-and-tech/330868-permafrost-yakutia-summer-melting

[xvii] ALASKA NATIVE VILLAGES Limited Progress Has Been Made on Relocating Villages Threatened by Flooding and Erosion, GAO: Report to Congressional Requesters, June 2009, available at: https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-09-551.pdf

[xviii] Thoman, R. & J. E. Walsh. (2019). Alaska’s changing environment: documenting Alaska’s physical and biological changes through observations. H. R. McFarland, Ed. International Arctic Research Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks, available at: https://uaf-iarc.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Alaskas-Changing-Environment_2019_WEB.pdf

[xx] Global Water Risk Atlas Reveals Top Water-Stressed Countries and States, August 6, 2019, Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas, World Resources Institute, Available at: https://www.wri.org/news/release-updated-global-water-risk-atlas-reveals-top-water-stressed-countries-and-states

[xxi] How a city that floods is running out of water, May 14 2018, by Melissa Hogenboom, BBC Future, available at: https://www.bbc.com/future/gallery/20180510-how-a-city-that-floods-is-running-out-of-water

[xxii] Water shortage leaves poorer Mexicans high and dry in coronavirus fight, April 24 2020, By  Anthony Esposito, Thomson Reuters, available at: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-mexico-water-idUSKCN2262Z3

[xxiii] The 11 cities most likely to run out of drinking water - like Cape Town, February 11 2018, BBC News, Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-42982959

[xxiv] Lake Chad: Can the vanishing lake be saved? March 31 2018, By Will Ross, BBC News, available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-43500314

[xxv] Drying Lake Chad Basin gives rise to crisis, December 2019-March 2020, By

Leon Usigbe, African Renewal, available at: https://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/december-2019-march-2020/drying-lake-chad-basin-gives-rise-crisis

[xxvi] Impact of Climate Change on Conflicts in Africa’s Sahel Region, November 17 2019, Julliette Gash, available at: https://www.rte.ie/news/environment/2019/1116/1091163-africa-climate-change/

[xxvii] The Effect of Climate Change on Water Shortage, March 22 2019, By Josie Garthwaite, Stanford News, available at: https://news.stanford.edu/2019/03/22/effects-climate-change-water-shortages/

[xxviii] Climate change boosted Australia bushfire risk by at least 30%, March 4 2020, by Pallab Ghosh, BBC News, available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-51742646

[xxix] Overview of Major Wildfires Around The World In 2019, September 30, 2019 by Alan Wang, CareOurEarth, available at: https://www.careourearth.com/overview-of-major-wildfires-around-the-world-in-2019/

[xxx] The Long Road to Paris The History of the Global Climate Change Regime, Policy Brief November 2019, By Julia Kreienkamp, available at: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/global-governance/sites/global-governance/files/the_long_road_to_paris_the_history_of_the_global_climate_change_regime.pdf

[xxxii] ., Leghari v. Federation of Pakistan, PLD 2018 Lahore 364, Paragraph 12 of the Court’s judgment in Leghari v. Federation of Pakistan, available at: https://elaw.org/pk_Leghari

[xxxiii] Oposa v. Factoran, G.R. No. 101083, 30 July 1993; Environmental Jurisprudence from the Philippines: Are Climate Litigation Cases Just Around the Corner? IUCN, available at: https://www.iucn.org/news/world-commission-environmental-law/201906/environmental-jurisprudence-philippines-are-climate-litigation-cases-just-around-corner

[xxxiv] Climate Litigation Has Become a Global Trend, New Report Shows, July 8 2019, The Climate Docket, available at: https://www.climatedocket.com/2019/07/08/climate-litigation-human-rights/

[xxxv] The State of the Netherlands (Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy) v Urgenda Foundation, Case No. 19/00135, ECLI:NL:HR:2019:2007, Supreme Court of the Netherlands, 20 December 2019, available at: ECLI:NL:HR:2019:2007, Hoge Raad, 19/00135 (Engels) (columbia.edu)

[xxxvii] (Mehta I [1987] 4 SCC 463; Mehta II 1988 AIR 1115), Available at: https://lawtimesjournal.in/m-c-mehta-v-union-of-india-ganga-pollution-case/

[xli] Vellore Citizens Welfare Forum v. Union of India, AIR 1996 SC 2715, analysis available at: https://www.lawcolumn.in/vellore-citizens-welfare-forum-vs-union-of-india/

[xliii] Bangladesh National Women’s Lawyer Association v. Government of Bangladesh, Petition No. 5916 of 2008, Available at: https://opil.ouplaw.com/view/10.1093/law-ildc/3088bd09.case.1/law-ildc-3088bd09

[xliv] Lee Lai Ching v. Lim Hooi Teik [2013] 4 MLJ 272, Available at: https://archive.crin.org/en/library/legal-database/lee-lai-ching-v-lim-hooi-teik.html

[xlv]Australia v. France , Judgment, ICJ Reports 1974, p. 253, Available at: https://legal.un.org/ilc/texts/instruments/english/commentaries/9_9_2006.pdf

[xlvi] Minister of State for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs v Teoh (1995) 183 CLR 273, available at: https://archive.crin.org/en/library/legal-database/minister-state-immigration-and-ethnic-affairs-v-teoh.html

[xlvii] Article 18(a) of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties 1969, available at: https://legal.un.org/ilc/texts/instruments/english/conventions/1_1_1969.pdf p. 8

[xlviii] Malaihollo, M. Due Diligence in International Environmental Law and International Human Rights Law: A Comparative Legal Study of the Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement and Positive Obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights. Neth Int Law Rev 68, 121–155 (2021), available at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40802-021-00188-5#citeas

[xlix] Fossil fuel-based vehicle bans across the world, Thomson Reuters Foundation News, available at: https://news.trust.org/item/20201118095737-8h1uh

[li] More than 20 Countries Launch Global Alliance to Phase Out Coal, UNFCCC, available at: https://unfccc.int/news/more-than-20-countries-launch-global-alliance-to-phase-out-coal



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