Centre for International Governance Innovation
Published on Nov 6, 2017
Two years on since the adoption of the Paris climate agreement, there continue to be many aspects of the agreement that need to be negotiated. While diplomats make progress on such items, progress has been slow. In this video, climate lawyer David Estrin proposes alternative methods for achieving climate change goals by bringing claims to domestic courts. Estrin gives the example of the Urgenda case, a Dutch group who successfully sued their government for not meeting its obligations to fight climate change. It was the first time anywhere in the world that a court ordered a government to reduce its national carbon emissions. Estrin argues that this course of action may be the most powerful way to force action, especially considering the slow progress made at the international level. “This is not the ideal way. It would be better if the world’s nations agreed on something effective and actually worked at it” Estrin says.
Transition Studies 