Trends in Climate Change and Environmental Litigation in Selected EBRD Countries of Operation
BIICL is delighted to be undertaking a project for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) on trends in climate change and environmental litigation. The project will design capacity building measures informed by research carried out by the BIICL team.
The project involves analysis at both the international and domestic level. It will first map out existing instruments at the international level, and then, identify and analyse developments at the domestic level three selected pilot countries. The project not only analyses existing developments but also the prospects for litigation in selected jurisdictions. In this way, recommendations on areas of training as well as the curriculum and structure for EBRD's climate training module can be developed.
The mapping of instruments at the international level is conducted with a concentric approach, starting with instruments that are directly relevant to climate change, and moving out to broader frameworks of direct and indirect relevance to climate change and environmental litigation, such as international human rights law and international rules on state responsibility. It also includes an assessment of how these instruments have been used both in domestic courts, and regional and international judicial and quasi-judicial bodies.
Applying desk research, the developments at various domestic levels, including three EBRD countries of operation, are researched more broadly.
This analysis seeks to examine the type of cases and causes of action in relevant areas of law. In addition, it covers the examination of potential hurdles in domestic climate change litigation, mainly related to justiciability, cost barriers and access to justice, and extraterritoriality. Lastly, it lays out the role of science in climate change and environmental litigation. National experts will provide insights from the selected countries.
Combining these different research methodologies and including independent local experts in the field of climate change and environmental litigation enables this project to design an effective framework for capacity building measures.
