• WORLD VIEW

How scientists can help lawyers on climate action

Research into how to fairly translate global emissions targets to individual countries can make a difference in court.
By
  1. Dennis van Berkel

    1. Dennis van Berkel is legal counsel to the Urgenda Foundation in the Netherlands, and co-director of the Climate Litigation Network, which supports climate cases worldwide.

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On 13 March, a group of teenagers filed a climate-change case before the constitutional court of South Korea. The country ranks as the sixth-largest emitter of carbon dioxide, per capita, in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The plaintiffs claimed that their rights had been violated by their government. The case is one of around a dozen brought by members of the general public, in countries including France, Canada and Colombia, who seek protection from climate impacts and demand greater emissions reductions from their nations.

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doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-01150-w

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