Climate Change

What stories or topics merited more attention in 2025, and which might inform law and policy conversations in 2026?

The U.S. State Department's former lead climate lawyer analyzes the many surprising and unusual aspects of COP 30 negotiations in Belem.

Without regulation, the dangers of solar radiation modification will become magnified and the security risks more unchecked.

An agreement to resolve the dam conflict has long been drafted. Trump could be the "closer" engaging Presidents Abiy and el-Sisi for a deal.

To see crisis as catalyst is to reject fatalism and to believe that law can be both a shield and a compass in turbulent times. #ILW2025 aims to honor that belief.

Addressing the global environmental crisis requires urgent action, and this new treaty offers States an unprecedented opportunity to confront it directly and decisively.

Trump's General Assembly speech could have been worse, but it also showed that if countries want to make the U.N. system work, they can't bank on U.S. leadership.

China’s climate announcement — coupled with the U.S. withdrawal — has alarmed many in terms of the viability of the Paris Agreement’s temperature goal. 

U.S. state and local leaders can fill voids left as the Trump administration cuts and even exits multilateral organizations.

For international climate diplomacy to succeed, it cannot be tethered to partisan swings in Washington.

States should promote water security and minimize geopolitical risk by reading the UN Watercourses Convention as a baseline for all nations to follow.

With this unanimous opinion, the ICJ has taken a clear stand in favor of a coherent and equitable international legal response to climate change.