Published on 20 February 2024 in Client Alerts
The Inter-American Court on Human Rights had previously accepted the request for an Advisory Opinion on the Climate Emergency and Human Rights, as filed by the Republic of Colombia and the Republic of Chile on 9 January 2023. The Court invited “all interested parties” to present their written opinion on issues covered by the request, including but not limited to the adverse effects stemming from climate change.
Similar proceedings, concerning a request for an Advisory Opinion on the “Obligations of States in Respect of Climate Change,” are ongoing before the International Court of Justice. The proceedings before the International Court of Justice were initiated pursuant to Resolution 77/276 of the United Nations General Assembly, dated 29 March 2023.
In the brief 60 years of space flight, humanity has sent over 60,000 space objects and 1 million pieces of smaller debris into orbit around the planet. This has created the risk of a legal and physical log-jam in space. The congestion and space-junk problems are projected to become even more acute as the space race broadens its participants.
Learn moreDuring the 29th annual session of the International Seabed Authority (“ISA”), Malta, Tuvalu, Honduras, Guatemala and Austria declared their support for a precautionary pause on deep-sea mining. To date, now over thirty States have called for a halt in the exploitation of the deep seabed minerals. These calls come as the ISA struggles to adopt a final set of regulations on mining exploitation.
Learn moreOn 30 May 2024, the European Council adopted decisions enabling the European Union (“EU”) to denounce (the proper international law term for ‘withdraw from’) the Energy Charter Treaty (“ECT”).
Learn moreThe COVID-19 pandemic exposed significant gaps in the global health system, leading to immense human and economic losses. In response, the World Health Organization (“WHO”) and its member States decided to draft a comprehensive international treaty—the Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness, and Response Accord.
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