Sam Varvastian

facilitating children’s right to access to justice and to an effective remedy.

of planetary crises: a) acknowledging the combined impacts of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss on children, including the importance of considering the best available science when dealing with health harms; b) more explicit recognition of the role of civil society organisations in

My submission to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child on the draft General Comment No. 27 on children’s right to access to justice and to an effective remedy. I have proposed some changes to the text of the Draft that concern access to justice in the context 1/3
www.ohchr.org/sites/defaul...

...that links human rights, mental health, and climate change in ways that can drive meaningful progress. Full issue is available here: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Special thanks also to @lancegable.bsky.social for the insightful and thought-provoking commentary. I fully agree that expanding research, regulation, advocacy, and institutional support - alongside litigation - is essential to building a multifaceted approach.. 2/3
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

The latest issue of the @jlme-journal.bsky.social is hot off the press, including my piece “Climate Change and Mental Health: A Human Rights Perspective”. Many thanks to the editorial team for their excellent work on this issue - it's an honor to be included. 1/3
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

This book is a vital resource - not only for scholars and practitioners of climate litigation, but also for anyone with an interest in transnational and comparative environmental law, and related fields.

More book review news from this week: happy to see my review of the excellent Jolene Lin and Jacqueline Peel, Litigating Climate Change in the Global South (‪@oxfordacademic.bsky.social‬ 2024) now out in the latest issue of @teljournal.bsky.social!
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

pollution has been facing the well-known challenges of anti-regulatory lobbying, similar to those encountered in earlier negotiations on climate change and other planetary crises. 2/2
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Happy to see Sam Adelman's wonderful review of my book in @journallawsociety.bsky.social, which raises key concerns about the efficacy of international environmental law - for example, the fact that the ongoing session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to develop a treaty on plastic 1/2

- Each State that has suffered harm can seek responsibility of all States that have contributed to that harm, reparations determined on a case-by-case basis.

- If States fail to take appropriate action with regard to climate change (including failure to properly regulate the conduct of private parties), this may constitute a wrongful act under international law;

- States have a duty to cooperate and act in good faith to make a meaningful global response;

- States must ensure that nationally determined contributions meet the standards under the Paris Agreement;

- States must act with due diligence and make best efforts to meet their mitigation and adaptation obligations – standard of diligence is high;

- Recognizes that a healthy environment is a precondition for full enjoyment of human rights and that climate change can endanger various rights including to life, health, etc. Human rights law is also applicable to climate change.

- Recognizes the applicability of a broader body of international law - including the law of the sea, international environmental law on biodiversity, air quality, etc, and customary international law to climate change;

- ICJ recognizes the existential and planetary threat of climate change, extraterritoriality of GHG emissions, and the best available science;

The International Court of Justice has just delivered a powerful advisory opinion on the obligations of states in respect of climate change. Some key takeaways: 1/
www.icj-cij.org/sites/defaul...

Our new @scientistscoa.bsky.social policy brief on the importance of regulating plastic products and taking other steps to avoid the releases/leakages of chemicals and other pollutants from plastics, thus protecting both the environment and human health, is now out.
zenodo.org/records/1563...

..consideration of the intertwined nature of climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss. 3/3 @cambridgeup.bsky.social

...the impacts on mental health have received overwhelmingly less attention. And yet, the rights-based approach to climate change and mental health already exists at the international and domestic levels, although it is still in its very early days and needs significant development, including ...2/3

Excited to share my latest work "Climate Change and Mental Health: A Human Rights Perspective" out in OPEN ACCESS in the @jlme-journal.bsky.social. While the impacts of climate change on physical heath are globally recognized as potentially endangering human rights ...1/3
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