The Innu Nation of Labrador announced Oct. 6 that it is seeking $4 billion in damages from Hydro-Quebec over its mega-dam on the Upper Churchill River. The suit, filed in the Supreme Court of Newfoundland & Labrador, seeks compensation for the theft of… Read moreInnu Nation sues Hydro-Quebec
Six Portuguese young people have filed a legal complaint at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg, France, accusing 33 countries of violating their right to a secure future by failing to take action to mitigate the climate crisis. The youths aged… Read moreInternational youth file climate change lawsuits
The Global Mayors COVID-19 Recovery Task Force, representing cities on every continent, has announced a proposal for a post-pandemic “new normal” that will de-emphasize cars and carve out more room on the streets for bicyclists. The C40 Mayors Agenda for a… Read moreGlobal mayors envision car-free ‘new normal’
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on July 9 issued a ruling in favor of the US government, allowing oil drilling to proceed in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPRA). The court rejected a claim by environmental groups that a 2012… Read moreNinth Circuit approves drilling within Alaska reserve
The Supreme Court of Canada dismissed an appeal by the Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations in British Columbia, ending their years-long battle against the construction of the Trans-Mountain Pipeline. The pipeline is a controversial project to carry crude oil between Alberta… Read moreCanada high court dismisses case against pipeline
Leaders from the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, the World Health Organization and the World Wide Fund for Nature joined to issue a stark warning that pandemics such as COVID-19 are a direct result of the destruction of nature caused by human activity…. Read moreDestruction of nature linked to new pandemics
Amnesty International condemned the conviction in Turkey of environmental activist Esra Işık. The activist was convicted of "resisting a public official to prevent performance of duty" and "insulting a public official," and sentenced to two years and one month in prison. Işık was detained in March following participation in demonstrations against an extraordinary "urgent" land expropriation decision by the Turkish government, in which over 600 parcels in the Akbelen Forest area were to be seized for expansion of a coal mine. (Photo: Cumhuriyet)
Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a state of emergency June 3 after 20,000 tons of diesel oil leaked into a river within the Arctic Circle. The spill went unreported for two days, which may have caused irreparable damage to the… Read moreRussia: state of emergency after Arctic oil spill
The Canadian Institute for International Law Expertise (CIFILE) has asked the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate individual world leaders and the World Health Organization (WHO) for alleged international crimes relating to their handling of the COVID-19 pandemic…. Read moreICC complaint filed over COVID-19
International climate negotiations will be delayed by a full year because of the coronavirus pandemic, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the UK government announced May 28. The next summit, officially dubbed the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), was… Read moreUN climate talks delayed one year by COVID-19
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on May 26 reversed a federal judge’s dismissal of a climate change lawsuit against oil companies including ExxonMobil, BP and Chevron by the cities of San Francisco and Oakland, setting the stage for the case… Read moreSan Francisco suit against oil companies remanded
Secretary of State Michael Pompeo announced on May 21 that the United States would formally submit notice the following day of its intent to withdraw from the Treaty on Open Skies, a post-Cold War trust-building measure signed in 1992 by… Read moreTrump tears up arms control treaties
