气候变化领域集成服务门户

The UNEP-Sabin Center report calls the use of human rights “one of the most visible categories of climate cases,” that have catalyzed changes even when plaintiffs do not outwardly prevail. In Sacchi, et al. v. Argentina, et al., for instance, the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child rejected on procedural grounds a plea from youths claiming that their governments violated their rights under the Convention on the Rights of the Child by failing to make adequate emission cuts. Despite being dismissed, the petition generated “positive” guidance for pro-climate action plaintiffs: the Committee’s ruling stated, among other things, that governments’ acts or omissions regarding greenhouse gas emissions are “reasonably foreseeable,” contribute to the harmful effects of climate change and have extraterritorial consequences. Future plaintiffs and other courts may rely on that language in mounting new legal challenges. That sort of cross-pollination between different judicial bodies is yet another trend noted in the report.