Climate Rights are Human Rights

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In an historic ruling, the European Court of Human Rights decided that Switzerland’s failure to act on climate violates human rights.? This was the first time an international court determined that governments were legally obligated to meet their climate targets under human rights law and set a precedent for other cases.?

The nine-year court battle called for more protection for women’s health as it relates to climate based on research showing that older women are particularly vulnerable to heat-related illnesses. The judges ruled that the Swiss government had failed to protect its citizens’ rights and ordered Switzerland to introduce measures to address those failures and to pay plaintiffs' costs and expenses.

Joie Chowdhury , an attorney with the Center for International Environmental Law, said, “The first ruling by an international human rights court on the inadequacy of states’ climate action leaves no doubt… the climate crisis is a human rights crisis.” Greta Thurnberg, who joined the cheering crowds as the elderly Swiss women descended the court's steps after the verdict, said: “This is just the beginning.”?

Swiss newspapers clapped back, calling the ruling “absurd” and a threat to democracy. Describing the ruling as "activist jurisprudence" that could pave the way for "all kinds of claims," Influential newspapers in Switzerland said the elderly plaintiffs were ultimately pawns of environmental lobbies that used the court to circumvent democratic debate.

The international court's ruling will have implications beyond Switzerland. Tom Cummins , of law firm Ashurst, said, “Corporate climate litigation often relies on human rights arguments?.?.?.?The decision in the case against Switzerland will likely encourage claims of this nature.”

While this case won, two similar cases we have been following, one from a former French mayor and another brought by six Portuguese youths, lost. However, one of the Portuguese plaintiffs, Sofia Oliveira, said, “Their win (the Swiss women) is a win for us, too, and a win for everyone!”

There are currently more than 2,500 climate litigation cases globally, and there is no sign of that slowing down. With more than 55% having a climate-positive ruling, the judicial system is having a huge impact on climate action. The Columbia Climate School Sabin Center for Climate Change Law maintains a comprehensive tracker of climate litigation.??

Carbon Credit Chaos at SBTi

For the first time, the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) announced it would allow “environmental attribute certificates,” such as renewable energy credits, for abatement of?Scope 3 (value chain) emissions as part of its Corporate Net-Zero Standard.??

Let’s decode this a bit: More than 5,000 companies have voluntarily established climate emissions reduction goals through the SBTi.? Often held up as the “gold standard” of climate goals, SBTi purports to align company climate targets to keep warming below 1.5°C above average pre-industrial temperatures - the level widely thought to avoid the worst effects of climate change. When it comes to “Scope 3” - the emissions associated with suppliers upstream and the products that are sold downstream of these companies- companies have limited control over how these emissions are measured and managed. Some companies complained that being held to hard emissions targets for Scope 3 was not realistic. The new ruling will allow companies to “buy” carbon credits (i.e., emission reductions that happened elsewhere) to offset their Scope 3 emissions.??

The move comes after months of flagship companies being removed from the SBTi list due to incomplete transition plans. Many of those companies say the SBTi Corporate Net-Zero Standard, particularly the Scope 3 part, is too hard to meet.

The change was met with outrage by SBTi staff, who, a day after the announcement, wrote an open letter asking for the chief executive to step down and a reversal of the plan, citing that the SBTi is no longer following scientific principles. More outrage was expressed by Bill Baue, an SBTi technical adviser, who said, “SBTi's incompetent/insidious actions seem to continue to shoot itself in the foot in ways that simultaneously shoot humanity in the heart.”?

Proponents of voluntary carbon markets had a different view. Leo Mongendre said, “This day will possibly become a date to remember in the (bumpy) history of the Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM).”

SBTi aims to release the rules for environmental attribute certificates by July 2024

Will It or Won’t It - SEC’s Climate Rule

Last week, the SEC voluntarily “stayed” (paused implementation) their own climate disclosure rule while the nine (to date) court cases were settled. This article from Lexology gives a good play-by-play of the litigation thus far and the reasons the SEC stayed their own rule - which boiled down to two reasons:

1. To expedite the cases and get to a verdict quicker.
2. To prevent uncertainty with the regulations potentially coming into effect while still under judicial review.

With both sides looking for a quick hearing, a verdict could be reached as early as September. Meanwhile, The US Congress is not waiting for the court. House Republicans unveiled a bill Wednesday to nullify the SEC climate risk disclosure rule. “They are doing things that they have not been authorized to do,” the Bill’s author Rep Huizenga (R-Mich.) said in an interview on the sidelines of a committee hearing Wednesday. “Congress, after debate, should decide whether to give the agency such power.”?

While this case is ongoing, most experts advise companies to prepare for compliance.

Japan Adopts ISSB-aligned Sustainability Standards

Japan is joining the growing cadre of countries announcing ISSB-aligned reporting standards. The Sustainability Standards Board of Japan (SSBJ) released three new exposure drafts of proposed standards.?

The SSBJ drafts are closely aligned with the ISSB standards - S1 general sustainability-related disclosure standard and S2 climate-related disclosures. The only difference is the inclusion of Japan-specific reporting, and S1 has been split into two separate standards. They released a summary of the differences between the ISSB and SSBJ standards here.

The SSBJ expects its standards to be a further evolution of mandatory reporting in Japan and is currently soliciting feedback before finalizing them in March 2025.

Unrelenting Emissions and Temperature Records

March continued a streak of ten consecutive months that were the hottest months on record. The oceans have now been at record highs every day for more than a year. Samantha Burgess, PhD , deputy director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, said, “Myself and other climate scientists are asking whether this year is a blip, a phase change, whether the climate system is broken and behaving in a different way to what we expect.”?

Temperatures are not likely to stabilize anytime soon. A new National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association report found that the concentrations of the three leading global warming-causing gasses—carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide—all hit record highs in 2023.?

In reference to these unwelcome records, the UN’s climate chief, Simon Stiell , told a room full of bankers, politicians, and business leaders that the next two years will be "essential in saving our planet.”

The views expressed on this website/weblog are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer.?

Other Notable News:

• This week, the EU Parliament adopted a law that will put limits on methane emissions related to oil and gas imports. The new rule will come into play in 2030 and will force companies that import oil and gas to the EU to fix methane leaks.?
• Start-up Windfall Bio announced a methane-eating microbe that shows promise in reducing the potent GHG from animal waste.
• Despite banks making net zero commitments, a new report revealed that those commitments were ineffective in reducing emissions. The research from the EU Central Bank found that although banks from groups like the Net Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA) did reduce their “financed emissions,” they did not reduce them more than banks without net zero commitments, indicating it was business as usual.
• This article from the FT considers a hopeful future, positing that when emissions do start falling, which could happen as soon as this year, the psychological knock-on effect could accelerate action.
• Zara owner Inditex has asked for "transparency" and "traceability" from its main cotton certifier, Better Cotton, in response to greenwashing allegations of illegal practices, including stolen land and illegal deforestation, by Brazilian cotton producers.?
• A new fossil fuel-free steel mill from Swedish international steel maker SSAB will reduce the overall emissions of Sweden by 7%.
• The EU Parliament adopted a voluntary certification framework for carbon removals. The carbon removal framework aims to create a better system to quantify, monitor, and verify carbon removals and avoid greenwashing.?
• The US Environmental Protection Agency imposed the first federal limits on PFAS, or "forever chemicals," in drinking water, allowing the government to enforce limits on the levels of toxic chemicals linked to cancer and other health risks in public water systems across the country.

Notable Podcasts:?

• It was a busy week for me on the podcast scene. I was a guest on my company’s podcast, “The So What,” where I joined Georgie Frost to discuss the past, present, and future of ESG and how, despite the polarization, sustainability is not going anywhere. I was also a guest on Mike Hower ’s podcast “The Sustainability Communicator.” This was an excellent conversation that focused on sustainability storytelling in the age of ESG regulation.
• The International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) initiated a podcast called “The ISSB Implementation Insights Podcast.” In this first episode, ISSB Vice-Chair Sue Lloyd is joined by ISSB Member Veronika Pountcheva and ISSB Technical Fellow Dianora Aria De Marco, CPA . They discuss the recent Transition Implementation Group on IFRS S1 and IFRS S2 meeting, which took place in March 2024.

ESG and Climate Job Opportunities

• Director of Climate Justice, Carbon Direct, Remote
• Senior Associate, Climate Justice, B Lab, Philadelphia Hybrid
• Climate Solutions Consultant, Innova Solutions, Remote
• Intern, Clearloop Carbon Projects Inventory, Silicon Ranch, Remote
• Climate Solutions Specialist, Valere, United States, Remote
• Climate Sustainability Intern, Doctors Without Borders, NYC, NY
• Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Analyst, Driehaus Capital Management, Chicago, Illinois
• Sustainability Consultant - ESG / Carbon Services and Climate Risk, WAP Sustainability, remote
• Sustainability Strategist - Mid Level, Gensler, New York
• Climate Solutions Consultant, Luxoft, Schaumburg, IL
• Sustainability Professional, Samsung Semiconductor, Austin, TX
• Manager, Environmental, FIFA World Cup 2026? - Canada, Mexico and the United States · Miami, FL