Climate

Climate groups are launching two legal cases in the Court of Session to block a decision by UK ministers to grant permission to drain fossil fuels from the Rosebank oilfield. Uplift and Greenpeace UK are attempting to overturn the UK government's decision to permit the development of the oilfield &n

COP28 in Dubai has agreed on the need to move away from fossil fuels for the first time at the end of a climate summit marred by restrictions on civil society and the United Arab Emirates’ "blatant contempt" for human rights, Amnesty International said. The headline COP28 agreement on the Glob

The Law Society of Scotland has announced further steps in response to the escalating climate crisis, seeking to act and lead change across the legal sector. On Friday the Law Society’s governing Council passed a resolution formally setting out the society’s strong commitment to climate

An agreement at the COP28 summit to end the production and use of fossil fuels is vital to prevent a global climate catastrophe and stop an unprecedented human rights crisis which threatens the rights of billions of people from escalating, Amnesty International said today. In a briefing entitled&nbs

As global temperatures rise and the effects of climate change become more pronounced, countries around the world are witnessing a surge in climate-related litigation. Scottish Legal News delves into this growing trend, exploring key cases and shifts in global attitudes. The journey of international

An initiative designed to help law firms respond meaningfully to the climate crisis has launched in the UK ahead of London Climate Action Week. Legal Charter 1.5, which has been developed by a group of law firms, consists of a set of core principles that signatories commit to in order to reduce gree

The importance of optimising land use to electrify the economy and meet the UK’s net zero ambition has been revealed in a report from TLT and real estate consultancy Gerald Eve. Competing land use priorities, from renewable generation and green infrastructure to industry, affordable housing, f

On 2 February 2023 the UK government passed the The Climate Change (Targeted Greenhouse Gases) Order 2023 in response to a campaign by the Scottish Climate Emergency Legal Network (SCELN) to amend the UK’s Climate Change Act 2008 (CCA 2008) and close a significant gap in the governance of gree

A reclaiming motion by a renewables company against a Lord Ordinary’s decision not to grant them a remedy against a decision of the Scottish Ministers has been refused by the Inner House of the Court of Session. NLEI Ltd had sought to develop a windfarm at a site on the Queensberry Estate near

Judges from Germany have visited Peru to examine the level of environmental damage allegedly caused by Europe’s greatest emitter in what could be a landmark climate case. The delegation visited a glacial lake in Peru’s Cordillera Blanca mountain range to find out if Germany’s large

In her recent article in The Scotsman, Queen Noor of Jordan urged the G20 nations to acknowledge that there is a diplomatic emergency. As she and other members of the Scotia Group have argued in recent months, states must commit themselves to more ambitious targets, increase financial and practical

Greenpeace has failed in its challenge to the grant of consent to drill at BP's Vorlich field, East of Aberdeen. The decision of the Inner House of the Court of Session earlier this month is the latest in a rapidly growing series of activist challenges to the approvals or permits for oil and gas, ma

DLA Piper has been appointed by the UK government as the provider of legal services for the COP26 climate change conference in Glasgow this November. The firm will provide general commercial support to the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) including in respect of sponsorship a

Malcolm Gunnyeon considers the domestic implications of a recent corporate emissions decision from the Netherlands. The recent landmark ruling by the Dutch courts against Royal Dutch Shell, one of the world’s biggest energy companies, is a stark warning to large emitters everywhere of the pote

Should climate change be a mandatory part of legal education to prepare Scotland's lawyers of the future? Or, would having a universal definition of 'ecocide' help to tackle climate change globally? Scots Law students have been challenged to write or record their views on climate change and the law