Across the world, judges are increasingly being asked to make decisions on litigation related to climate change. As climate impacts increase in severity over the coming decades, more cases are certain to follow. These cases sometimes require judges to understand both the basic, well-established principles of climate science in addition to cutting-edge techniques in climate change attribution—a rapidly growing scientific field that seeks to identify the link, if any, between greenhouse gas emissions of a given source and the occurrence or impacts of a particular weather event. Here, we introduce the general concepts of climate science and climate change attribution and discuss the relevance of these scientific topics to select high-profile cases that have been brought before various national and international judicial bodies.

Moreover, judicial education plays a critical role in preparing judges for emerging issues relevant to their dockets. The growing number of climate cases suggests climate science is one such issue. To help judges make sense of climate science and its relevance, the Environmental Law Institute’s Climate Judiciary Project is taking steps to bridge the divide between scientists and judges through specialized educational programming on several climate science topics. These efforts provide judges with the information and tools that they need to make informed decisions on the storm of litigation coming to their courtrooms, wherever they may be.

Continue reading “Weathering the Storm of Global Climate Litigation: Enabling Judges to Make Sense of Science“