The European Court of Human Rights delivered its long-awaited first ruling in the climate action case Verein KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz v. Switzerland, finding that the European Convention on Human Rights encompasses the right to effective protection from adverse effects of climate change.
On Tuesday, Ontario’s Superior Court struck down several provisions of the province’s controversial Security from Trespass and Protecting Food Safety Act, an “ag-gag” law which acts to shield the animal agriculture industry from reasonable scrutiny, and conceal its systemic cruelty.
On March 6, 2024, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted new rules that, per the SEC press release, will “enhance and standardize climate-related disclosures by public companies in public offerings.”
In this report, we provide a broad overview of 2024’s animated Canadian climate law and policy landscape.
The case La Rose et. al. v. Her Majesty the Queen was filed last October by several young Canadian plaintiffs, with support from Oregon-based non-profit law firm Our Children’s Trust. The lawsuit alleges the Canadian government violated the plaintiffs’ rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms by failing to take meaningful action to prevent anthropogenic climate change.
On July 31st, Ireland’s Supreme Court held that the Irish government’s current climate plan failed to meet the requirements set out in the statutory Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act of 2015. The ruling will require the government to (a) revise its plan to realise greater near-term emission reductions, and (b) better specify how Ireland will achieve the Act’s long-term objective of net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
On June 23, 2020, the US Department of Labor proposed regulations to prohibit private industry pension plans, governed under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), from investing in ESG investment vehicles if doing so would prioritize non-financial objectives over purely financial ones (i.e., increasing returns for plan beneficiaries).
