As in many other countries, climate change is driving new and complex litigation throughout India. These cases deal with a wide scope of issues, including greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, renewable energy development, and air pollution, among other topics. Five features related to India’s climate and energy policies, its judicial structure, and a recent Supreme Court decision make it likely that the courts will continue to play a significant role in shaping the country’s response to climate change.

This Comment illustrates, through a case study of the Delta smelt BiOp, the difficulties in making ESA jeopardy determinations for species on the brink of extinction. We conclude that the myriad challenges inherent in conservation of some small and declining populations make reasoned §7 analysis difficult, bordering on impossible.

Recent studies suggest natural gas is significantly more carbon-intensive than previously realized, with methane having at least 25 times the warming potential of carbon dioxide. If the United States is to meet greenhouse gas reduction goals, it must curtail methane leakage between 30% and 90%, and leakage is anticipated to cost producers $2 billion each year in lost product. Absent regulations from the federal government and many states, nongovernmental organizations and the private sector are developing innovative solutions.

The U.S. military has recognized climate change as a national security threat. Over the past three decades, installations across the country have experienced infrastructure damage, personnel evacuations, and millions or billions in rebuilding or repair costs. This Article argues that most military facilities are woefully unprepared for these impacts; to expedite action, it calls for a focus on expanding Other Transaction Authority (OTA) for infrastructure-related procurement, as well as specific measures, mandates, and responses.

As the prospects of significantly mitigating climate change through emissions reductions become dimmer, the critical necessity of adaptation has become clearer, with failure-to-adapt litigation possibly playing an important role in bringing adaptation measures to pass. Based on a review of every adaptation-related case in the U.S. Climate Litigation Database maintained by the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, this Article offers the first comprehensive assessment of failure-to-adapt litigation in the United States.

In May 2024, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) issued a landmark advisory opinion on climate change under international law. It unanimously determined that State Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea have specific obligations to take all necessary measures to prevent, reduce, and control marine pollution from anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions.

The Stockholm Resilience Centre has concluded that the number of “planetary boundaries” we are crossing has increased from three in 2009, when the Centre’s researchers first introduced the concept, to six in 2023. Crossing these boundaries means humans are changing basic attributes of planetary systems to the point of risking the future of civilization.

The relationship between the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights regime under the World Trade Organization is complex. The manner in which intellectual property rights (IPRs) pertaining to genetic resources (GRs) and associated traditional knowledge (ATK) are handled is the main source of this dissonance.

Plastic pollution is emerging as a defining crisis of our time. The United States has set a national goal to eliminate plastic release into the environment by 2040 and is engaging in negotiations on a global plastics treaty while simultaneously developing a national strategy. A recent report published by the Environmental Law Institute (ELI) and the Monterey Bay Aquarium provides a comprehensive overview of existing legal authorities the federal government can leverage to achieve this national goal while safeguarding human health and the environment.

Among the many detrimental impacts from climate change, sea-level rise is one of the most damaging, costly, and devastating. Sea-level change poses particular challenges for coastal communities, and is becoming more prevalent in environmental law. Existing scientific literature about how sea-level change works can often be inaccessible to the people that need it. In addition, each coastal community experiences a unique combination of global, regional, and local factors that define sea-level change.