Dr. David R. Boyd

Big question
Has there ever been a more important court ruling than last week's advisory opinion on climate change from the International Court of Justice?
Facing an existential threat, the ICJ ruled that all States are obligated to protect the climate system by decarbonizing ASAP or polluters pay $

A Right Foundational to Humanity’s Existence

Driven by youth and Small Island States, courts have made it clear that bold climate action and generous climate finance are legally binding obligations that States must fulfil to protect the climate system & protect human rights
verfassungsblog.de/icj-climate-...
verfassungsblog.de/right-to-a-h...

🌍⚖️ The ICJ now recognizes the right to a healthy environment—a breakthrough for international climate justice.

Read the latest blog post by @drdavidboyd.bsky.social unpacks what this means for law, human rights, and environmental accountability.

🔗 buff.ly/hmYD5xA

#ICJ #HumanRights

ICJ Advisory Opinion! This is an absolutely massive and historic day for climate justice! Huge thanks to Pacific Island Students Fighting Climate Change and World Youth for Climate Justice who deserve the Nobel Peace Prize for their role in this. Also kudos to Vanuatu for incredible leadership!

New from me: How China's clean energy manufacturing boom is helping reduce CO2 emissions overseas. In 2024, China’s exports of solar panels, batteries and electric vehicles are shaved 1% off global emissions outside of China.

‼️ 🌍⚖️NEW POST: @drdavidboyd.bsky.social discusses 3 points on the advisory opinion—the right to a healthy climate, the rights of Nature, & the recognition of a new jus cogens norm prohibiting massive & irreversible damage to the climate & environment.
Read ➡️ blogs.law.columbia.edu/climatechang...

The World’s Highest Court Can’t Ignore the World’s Biggest Climate Culprit: Fossil Fuels - Center for International Environmental Law ICJ must name fossil fuels as the culprit in the climate crisis and declare States’ legal duty to phase them out and bring polluters to justice.

Tomorrow, the #ICJ rules on climate justice - and #FossilFuels are finally on trial.

Why does it matter? Our new blog explains why naming and phasing out fossil fuels is a legal and moral necessity.

Read more👉 bit.ly/4kPEEBU

#ClimateJustice

quarrying deep, if necessary, into its very bedrock. Seams of untold strength and richness lie therein, waiting to be quarried. Do these sources contain principles mightier than might alone, wherewith to govern the mightiest weapon of destruction yet devised?"
www.icj-cij.org/sites/defaul...

I like this quote from Justice Weeramantry, from an earlier advisory opinion on the legality of using nuclear weapons:
"It is thus the gravest of possible issues which confronts the Court in this Advisory Opinion. It requires the Court to scrutinize every available source of international law, ...

Tomorrow the world's highest court, the International Court of Justice, will issue what may be the most important judicial ruling in human history.
Facing an unprecedented climate emergency, will the Court have the courage to stand up to the fossil fuel giants and hold them accountable?
Stay tuned!

🔥 TOMORROW, history will be made.

The International Court of Justice #CIJ_ICJ will issue its first-ever Advisory Opinion on the #ClimateCrisis, a legal milestone that could redefine states’ responsibilities to protect #HumanRights and the planet.

Climate justice win! IA Court on Human Rights elaborates legal obligations around a healthy climate as part of the right to a healthy environment.
Meanwhile @coe.int still debates whether it should recognise it.
Our answer? YES - we urge the Council to adopt a protocol to the European Convention!

The right to a healthy environment is at the heart of the Inter_American Court of Human Rights powerful new ruling on the climate emergency.
The right basically prohibits "anthropogenic conduct with an irreversible impact on the vital balance of the planetary ecosystem"
More to follow ...

OK, here we go! The Inter-American Court of Human Rights is releasing its Advisory Opinion on human rights and the climate emergency.
Huge anticipation that this could be a powerful catalyst for climate justice, by clarifying the obligations that State must respect and the actions they must take ...

Trump's budget has $1.1 trillion in tax cuts for people making more than $500,000/year. And it has $1.1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid and food stamps. Straight transfer from people who cannot afford food and medical care to people who can afford to fly first class.
Ezra Klein NYT

The climate, pollution & biodiversity crisis is harming our health, says Denis Fernando of @friends-earth.bsky.social

At next week's @coe.int meeting, Ministers must support a binding instrument legally protecting the right to a #HealthyEnvironmentForAll - foundational to all human rights!

States must act now in a global environmental crisis.

Former UN Rapporteur @drdavidboyd.bsky.social urges @coe.int Ministers meeting in Luxembourg to start negotiating a binding instrument on the right to a #HealthyEnvironmentForAll.

You've backed it at the UN, now make it real for Europe!

I 100% agree that RFK Jr espouses looney views without scientific evidence much of the time e.g. vaccines, autism. On the other hand, getting petrochemicals out of the food supply is a good idea.
And I am not sure that personal attacks are particularly helpful. My sense is that the man is not well.

Most of world's colourful corals go white in record-breaking bleaching | CBC News The world's rainbow reefs have gone ghostly white in seas around the globe due to record heat in the oceans, the International Coral Reef Initiative reports. But scientists say the reefs aren't all de...

This is more important than all of the idiotic Trump announcements of the past two months:
Record breaking coral bleaching, with potential impacts in the trillions of dollars
Also, heart-breaking!!
Climate crisis is NOT a hoax.
www.cbc.ca/news/science...

Further evidence of a world turned upside down--those striving to protect this beautiful planet and its life support system ordered to pay $660 million to a fossil fuel giant.

This is a total perversion of justice, opposite of "polluter pays" and hopefully overturned on appeal.

I ❤️ Greenpeace!

Why fear of billion-dollar lawsuits stops countries phasing out fossil fuels Companies can sue governments for closing oilfields and mines – and the risk of huge damages is already stopping countries from passing green laws, ministers say

The fear of billion-dollar lawsuits is stopping countries from phasing out fossil fuels.

The Guardian analyzed the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) system, citing a 2023 report by IRES/@ubcsppga.bsky.social prof @drdavidboyd.bsky.social:

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Human rights are non-negotiable. The US can walk away from the UN Human Rights Council but it cannot walk away from its human rights obligations.
Russia is a human rights free zone. We must united our efforts to prevent the USA from becoming the same.

Big corporations are getting away with catastrophic air pollution – putting Canadians at risk Between 2000 and 2020, only one-third of environmental enforcement actions were actually brought against the biggest corporate offenders.

Canada's air #pollution laws not being properly enforced as industrial polluters aren't being held to account for offenses, say @ires.ubc.ca professors Drs. Amanda Giang (@agiang.bsky.social) and David R Boyd (@drdavidboyd.bsky.social).

theconversation.com/big-corporat...

KlimaSeniorinnen judgment: The Committee of Ministers sends the Swiss government back to the drawing board - Greenpeace Schweiz The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe decided this week that Switzerland is not yet complying with the requirements of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruling…

The Committee of Ministers decides that 🇨🇭isn't yet doing enough to meet the landmark #KlimaSeniorinnen judgment.

www.greenpeace.ch/de/medienmit...

This is so vitally important! Time for the Council of Europe to create an additional protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights that recognizes the right to a healthy environment. #HealthyEnvironmentForAll

It's a bad idea for sure, but to be clear it's a proposal for offshore oil, not "massive oil expansion in the Amazon forest"

Delighted to share my conversation with brilliant climate law expert Anirudh Nanda. Lots of outrage and a healthy dose of optimism!
creators.spotify.com/pod/show/is-...

Rubio says he’s acting director of USAID as humanitarian agency is taken over by the State Department | CNN Politics Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Monday that he is acting administrator the US Agency for International Development, confirming the de-facto takeover of the humanitarian agency by the State De...

my twitter account was temporarily shut down after I tweeted:So the world's richest man is dismantling American programs to help the world's poorest people?
Stop being such a heartless d*ckhead @elonmusk
www.cnn.com/2025/02/03/p...

Elon Musk Says Trump Wants to Shut Down USAID: Live Updates

World's richest man is attacking world's poorest people by cutting down US AID, which provides tens of billions of dollars in vital assistance to people in need across the world. So vile and reprehensible!!
www.nytimes.com/live/2025/02...

The world's richest man attacking the world's poor. Unbelievably unconscionable!!!