Climate Law & Liability

Does Nature Have Rights? A Burgeoning Legal Movement Says Rivers, Forests and Wildlife Have Standing, Too

Climate change and environmental destruction have inspired court cases around the country—and the globe—aimed at protecting the natural world.

By Katie Surma

Are Bolsonaro’s Attacks on the Amazon and Indigenous Tribes International Crimes? A Third Court Plea Says They Are

By Katie Surma

Houston’s Mayor Asks EPA to Probe Contaminants at Rail Site Associated With Nearby Cancer Clusters

By Aman Azhar

Indigenous Leaders and Human Rights Groups in Brazil Want Bolsonaro Prosecuted for Crimes Against Humanity

By Katie Surma

In a Growing Campaign to Criminalize Widespread Environmental Destruction, Legal Experts Define a New Global Crime: ‘Ecocide’

By Katie Surma, Inside Climate News, and Yuliya Talmazan, NBC News

Dutch Court Gives Shell Nine Years to Cut Its Carbon Emissions by 45 Percent from 2019 Levels

By Kristoffer Tigue, Dan Gearino

For the Second Time in Four Years, the Ninth Circuit Has Ordered the EPA to Set New Lead Paint and Dust Standards

By Agya K. Aning

The Supreme Court Sidesteps a Full Climate Change Ruling, Handing Industry a Procedural Win

By David Hasemyer

As the Climate Crisis Grows, a Movement Gathers to Make ‘Ecocide’ an International Crime Against the Environment

By Nicholas Kusnetz, Katie Surma, Yuliya Talmazan

Ecocide: Should Destruction of the Planet Be a Crime?

By David Sassoon

Lands Grabs and Other Destructive Environmental Practices in Cambodia Test the International Criminal Court

By Katie Surma

A Bankruptcy Judge Lets Blackjewel Shed Coal Mine Responsibilities in a Case With National Implications

By James Bruggers

Maryland Thought Deregulating Utilities Would Lower Rates. It’s Cost the State’s Residents Hundreds of Millions of Dollars.

By Agya K. Aning

Federal Courts Help Biden Quickly Dismantle Trump’s Climate and Environmental Legacy

By Marianne Lavelle

Blackjewel’s Bankruptcy Filing Is a Harbinger of Trouble Ahead for the Plummeting Coal Industry

By James Bruggers

Maryland’s Capital City Joins a Long Line of Litigants Seeking Climate-Related Damages from the Fossil Fuel Industry

By David Hasemyer

Nine Years After Filing a Lawsuit, Climate Scientist Michael Mann Wants a Court to Affirm the Truth of His Science

By Marianne Lavelle

Can Massachusetts Democrats Overcome the Power of Business Lobbyists and Pass Climate Legislation?

By Phil McKenna

Court Strikes Down Trump Rollback of Climate Regulations for Coal-Fired Power Plants

By Georgina Gustin