Law as a Tool to Enforce the Paris Agreement

On Thursday, I went to an extremely fascinating, inspiring, and empowering side event about supporting the implementation of the Paris Agreement through climate litigation and legislative reforms. The panel featured speakers involved in several prominent lawsuits and organizations that work to hold both governments and corporations accountable in court.

One of the panelists, involved with the Urgenda Foundation and litigation in the Netherlands, emphasized the broader strategic advantages of using the court system as a tool to combat climate change. Beyond the actual financial compensation that plaintiffs (those who are suing) receive, the panelist discussed how courts help to hold governments accountable because government cannot lie in court or suppress information as they may be able to in other spheres, such as with the media. Bringing a case to court also humanizes and helps to communicate the impacts of the climate crisis by centering the stories and experiences of those who are affected. Furthermore, litigation can serve as a catalyst for other individuals and social movements by legitimizing their demands.

With respect to specific cases, the panel also had representation from several lawsuits pushing governments to ratchet up their emissions reduction targets and expedite their timelines, and corporations to take responsibility for how their actions have fueled the climate crisis and provide compensation to those affected. The main arguments in some of these suits include unlawful interference with property due to flooding from climate change-induced glacial melting (the Huaraz case), and detrimental impacts to the indigenous Sami people in Sweden, whose livelihoods (reindeer herding) and culture are being threatened by declining reindeer populations as a result of climate stressors.

I was really inspired by this event because I am planning to pursue a career in environmental protection, civil rights, and indigenous rights law, and am very interested in how I can incorporate climate change and these claims in the legal work that I will do. While this event was extremely interesting and inspiring, it was also very Eurocentric. I am therefore curious about the implications and effectiveness of this legal approach in countries where the political will necessary to enact this kind of change through the court system may not exist.

— Shana