Climate Politics

Legal Risks Seen Accelerating Climate Adaptation Plans

Subsidence following flash floods in Chiva, Spain.Photographer: Angel Garcia/Bloomberg

Countries that fall short in efforts to limit global warming to 1.5°C face growing legal risks that could push them to accelerate climate adaptation efforts.

The threat of lawsuits now looms over companies and governments that don’t take aggressive climate action, following an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice, said Winston Chow, a professor of urban climate at Singapore Management University.