Climate Change Resulting Natural Disasters And The Legal Responsibility Of States

Extreme weather events, such as cyclones and hurricanes, are increasing in their frequency and intensity. This increase has been scientifically linked to global warming, which is induced by anthropogenic climate change. This phenomenon is disproportionately affecting developing States, such as the Caribbean and Pacific Islands, even though they are not contributing to climate change to the same extent as developed States or emerging markets, and having a devastating effect on people and their livelihoods. This book examines two critical aspects of this situation, to which no specific, singular source in public international law is applicable or responsible. This book first examines the manner in which public international law, in particular international environmental law and customary public international law, is applicable to the question of funding for reconstruction and early warning systems by developed States and emerging markets. As the intensity and frequency of these events increases, so does the requirement for funding, with the aim of improving vulnerable States' resilience to climate-related devastation. While there are several schemes in place in order to secure funding for either early warning systems or postdisaster reconstruction, such as donations or insurance solutions, there is no specific instrument in public international law that deals with the question of whether developed States and emerging markets have an obligation to financially assist disaster-prone developing States with regard to the establishment of early warning systems and reconstruction in the wake of natural disasters. This book also analyses the right to receive humanitarian assistance and the State's obligation to provide early warning. In the aftermath of a calamitous event, the victims are largely dependent on the Sate and its capacity to organise and accept, if necessary, international humanitarian assistance. If the affected State refuses to do so, the consequences for the victims can be disastrous. With regard to humanitarian assistance, the book focuses on the application of human rights law on the international as well as regional levels, such as the African human rights system for example. In addition, the book outlines the doctrine of the responsibility to protect in this context and its practical limits in particular. As concerns the question of whether there is an obligation to provide early warning, this is assessed through an analysis of the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, also taking into account the jurisprudence of the Inter-American Human Rights system. Throughout its discussion of legal responsibility under international law resulting from climate change-induced natural disasters, this book takes into account the new developments around the International Law Commission's project on the Protection of Persons in the Event of Disasters"

Extreme weather events, such as cyclones and hurricanes, are increasing in their frequency and intensity. This increase has been scientifically linked to global warming, which is induced by anthropogenic climate change. This phenomenon is disproportionately affecting developing States, such as the Caribbean and Pacific Islands, even though they are not contributing to climate change to the same extent as developed States or emerging markets, and having a devastating effect on people and their livelihoods. This book examines two critical aspects of this situation, to which no specific, singular source in public international law is applicable or responsible. This book first examines the manner in which public international law, in particular international environmental law and customary public international law, is applicable to the question of funding for reconstruction and early warning systems by developed States and emerging markets. As the intensity and frequency of these events increases, so does the requirement for funding, with the aim of improving vulnerable States resilience to climate-related devastation. While there are several schemes in place in order to secure funding for either early warning systems or postdisaster reconstruction, such as donations or insurance solutions, there is no specific instrument in public international law that deals with the question of whether developed States and emerging markets have an obligation to financially assist disaster-prone developing States with regard to the establishment of early warning systems and reconstruction in the wake of natural disasters. This book also analyses the right to receive humanitarian assistance and the State's obligation to provide early warning. In the aftermath of a calamitous event, the victims are largely dependent on the Sate and its capacity to organise and accept, if necessary, international humanitarian assistance. If the affected State refuses to do so, the consequences for the victims can be disastrous. With regard to humanitarian assistance, the book focuses on the application of human rights law on the international as well as regional levels, such as the African human rights system for example. In addition, the book outlines the doctrine of the responsibility to protect in this context and its practical limits in particular. As concerns the question of whether there is an obligation to provide early warning, this is assessed through an analysis of the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, also taking into account the jurisprudence of the Inter-American Human Rights system. Throughout its discussion of legal responsibility under international law resulting from climate change-induced natural disasters, this book takes into account the new developments around the International Law Commission's project on the "Protection of Persons in the Event of Disasters", which is now considered for treaty adoption.

This book is the first comprehensive assessment of the legal duties of states with regard to human induced climate change damage

Through assessing climate disaster law in relation to international, public, private and environmental law this Research Handbook considers the unique challenges, barriers and opportunities that climate disasters pose for law and policy. Scientific and empirical evidence suggests that the laws addressing natural disasters cannot be adequately applied to disasters that are caused by climate change. Featuring contributions from leading international experts, this Research Handbook will be a useful resource for those with an interest in environmental law and international policymaking.

"As frustration mounts in some quarters at the perceived inadequacy or speed of international action on climate change, and as the likelihood of significant impacts grows, the focus is increasingly turning to liability for climate change damage. Actual or potential climate change liability implicates a growing range of actors, including governments, industry, businesses, non-governmental organisations, individuals and legal practitioners. Climate Change Liability provides an objective, rigorous and accessible overview of the existing law and the direction it might take in seventeen developed and developing countries and the European Union. In some jurisdictions, the applicable law is less developed and less the subject of current debate. In others, actions for various kinds of climate change liability have already been brought, including high profile cases such as Massachusetts v. EPA in the United States. Each chapter explores the potential for and barriers to climate change liability in private and public law"--

This report surveys existing law for legal issues that have arisen, or may arise in the future, on account of climate change and government responses thereto. At the threshold of many climate-change-related lawsuits are two barriers—whether the plaintiff has standing to sue and whether the claim being made presents a political question. Both barriers have forced courts to apply amorphous standards in a new and complex context. Efforts to mitigate climate change—that is, reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions—have spawned a host of legal issues. The Supreme Court resolved a big one in 2007—the Clean Air Act (CAA), it said, does authorize EPA to regulate GHG emissions. Quite recently, a host of issues raised by EPA's efforts to carry out that authority were resolved in the agency's favor by the D.C. Circuit. Another issue is whether EPA's “endangerment finding” for GHG emissions from new motor vehicles will compel EPA to move against GHG emissions under other CAA authorities. Still other mitigation issues are (1) the role of the Endangered Species Act in addressing climate change; (2) how climate change must be considered under the National Environmental Policy Act; (3) liability and other questions raised by carbon capture and sequestration; (4) constitutional constraints on land use regulation and state actions against climate change; and (5) whether the public trust doctrine applies to the atmosphere. Liability for harms allegedly caused by climate change has raised another crop of legal issues. The Supreme Court decision that the CAA bars federal judges from imposing their own limits on GHG emissions from power plants has led observers to ask: Can plaintiffs alleging climate change harms still seek monetary damages, and are state law claims still allowed? The one ruling so far says no to both. Questions of insurance policy coverage are also likely to be litigated. Finally, the applicability of international law principles to climate change has yet to be resolved. Water shortages thought to be induced by climate change likely will lead to litigation over the nature of water rights. Shortages have already prompted several lawsuits over whether cutbacks in water delivered from federal projects effect Fifth Amendment takings or breaches of contract. Sea level rise and extreme precipitation linked to climate change raise questions as to (1) the effect of sea level rise on the beachfront owner's property line; (2) whether public beach access easements migrate with the landward movement of beaches; (3) design and operation of federal levees; and (4) government failure to take preventive measures against climate change harms. Other adaptation responses to climate change raising legal issues, often property rights related, are beach armoring (seawalls, bulkheads, etc.), beach renourishment, and “retreat” measures. Retreat measures seek to move existing development away from areas likely to be affected by floods and sea level rise, and to discourage new development there. Natural disasters to which climate change contributes may prompt questions as to whether response actions taken in an emergency are subject to relaxed requirements and, similarly, as to the rebuilding of structures destroyed by such disasters just as they were before. Finally, immigration and refugee law appear not to cover persons forced to relocate because of climate change impacts such as drought or sea level rise.

In The Role of International Environmental Law in Disaster Risk Reduction, edited by Jacqueline Peel and David Fisher, expert authors from four continents offer perspectives on the growing intersection between environmental law and disaster risk management. Chapters discuss the potential for retasking environmental law tools and principles for purposes of mitigating the harms of potential disasters, including those exacerbated by climate change, and approaches for linking institutions and approaches across the environmental, climate adaptation and disaster risk management fields internationally. This book illustrates the blurring distinction between natural and manmade disasters and the consequences for legal norms and practice in the formerly distinct areas of international environmental law and international disaster law.

This edited volume brings together experts, emerging scholars, and practitioners in the field of international disaster law from North America, Japan, New Zealand, and Australia to analyze the evolution of international disaster law as a field that encompasses new ideas about human rights, sovereignty, and technology.

The start of the new millennium will be remembered for deadly climate-related disasters—the great floods in Thailand in 2011, Super Storm Sandy in the United States in 2012, and Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines in 2013, to name a few. In 2014, 17.5 million people were displaced by climate-related disasters, ten times more than the 1.7 million displaced by geophysical hazards. What is causing the increase in natural disasters and what effect does it have on the economy? Climate Change and Natural Disasters sends three messages: human-made factors exert a growing influence on climate-related disasters; because of the link to anthropogenic factors, there is a pressing need for climate mitigation; and prevention, including climate adaptation, ought not to be viewed as a cost to economic growth but as an investment. Ultimately, attention to climate-related disasters, arguably the most tangible manifestation of global warming, may help mobilize broader climate action. It can also be instrumental in transitioning to a path of low-carbon, green growth, improving disaster resilience, improving natural resource use, and caring for the urban environment. Vinod Thomas proposes that economic growth will become sustainable only if governments, political actors, and local communities combine natural disaster prevention and controlling climate change into national growth strategies. When considering all types of capital, particularly human capital, climate action can drive economic growth, rather than hinder it.

This book provides an authoritative insight on the Loss and Damage discourse by highlighting state-of-the-art research and policy linked to this discourse and articulating its multiple concepts, principles and methods. Written by leading researchers and practitioners, it identifies practical and evidence-based policy options to inform the discourse and climate negotiations. With climate-related risks on the rise and impacts being felt around the globe has come the recognition that climate mitigation and adaptation may not be enough to manage the effects from anthropogenic climate change. This recognition led to the creation of the Warsaw International Mechanism on Loss and Damage in 2013, a climate policy mechanism dedicated to dealing with climate-related effects in highly vulnerable countries that face severe constraints and limits to adaptation. Endorsed in 2015 by the Paris Agreement and effectively considered a third pillar of international climate policy, debate and research on Loss and Damage continues to gain enormous traction. Yet, concepts, methods and tools as well as directions for policy and implementation have remained contested and vague. Suitable for researchers, policy-advisors, practitioners and the interested public, the book furthermore: • discusses the political, legal, economic and institutional dimensions of the issue• highlights normative questions central to the discourse • provides a focus on climate risks and climate risk management. • presents salient case studies from around the world.