A climate case of potentially worldwide importance was in court in Hamm in Germany on 17 March 2025, inching its way towards a ruling. A Peruvian farmer Saúl Luciano Lliuya vs German power utility RWE. Read about why it matters in this update.

With the Biodiversity COP (COP16) in Cali Colombia underway, we wanted to share portions of a previous blog covering the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, agreed by the parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Montreal, Canada in 2022, as a reminder on what has already been agreed by the 196 parties to the convention.

William Wilson recounts a recent vist to see the play Kyoto at the Swan Theatre. The play dramatises the negotiations over COP3 that resulted in the famous Kyoto Protocol - a driving force behind climate negotiations ever since.

This article considers some of the significant recent developments and trends in the promotion of policy on nature and biodiversity. Like the childrens’ board game of Snakes and Ladders, this is characterised by steady progress and sudden pitfalls. However, the convergence of Climate and Biodiversity Laws that we at this website have regularly advocated is a positive and hopeful sign.

On 9 April 2024 the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg delivered a landmark judgement in an important climate case where 2,000 Swiss women, mainly in their 70s, brought a claim that Switzerland’s climate policies violated their rights to life and health under the European Convention on Human Rights.

Sulfur Hexafluoride (SF6) is a synthetic fluorinated compound. It is widely used in the electrical industry, but is the most potent greenhouse gas in existence. In this blog we look at SF6 emissions around the world and see how they are sneaking under the radar but causing massive damage.

On 21 March 2024 the Chief Justice of India, Dr Dhanajaya Y Chandrachud and India’s Supreme Court handed down a truly historic judgement in a climate case, M.K. Ranjitsinh & Others v Union of India (2024 INSC 280).

Our film: Biodiversity & Climate Change. Is now publically available. Watch it here.

From time to time we feel the need to go back to the science for a reminder of the urgency of the cliamte change. Here is a summary of three recent important scientific reports.

The UK has announced it will leave the controversial Energy Charter Treaty. We explain what it is and why it matters.

The environment and action on climate change lost three highly experienced and hugely talented champions in October 2023, in Saleemul Huq, John Vidal & Pete Betts. But the work that they did will endure, and the remarkable new generations of climate activists will benefit from it as they take up the baton and run the next relays.

COP28 has concluded with the signing of the “UAE Consensus”. What is included in this final text and what does it mean?

COP28 began in Dubai with a big announcement, that a long awaiting fund for loss and damage has been started. Other key moments included King Charles’ speech, and agreements on food and renewable energy. Thornier issues await in week 2 however.

COP28 will feature the first Global Stocktake, which is intended to be a five yearly review and assessment of the global response to climate change. Find out what this entails and why it matters in this summary.

The Borrowed Earth Project spoke to young climate activist Riaz Ahmed about his climate work in northern Pakistan, and what he would most like to see come out of the climate discussions at COP28. Find the full interview here.

On 8 November 2023, the Stockholm Environment Institute, E3G, International Institute for Sustainable Development and UNEP published “The Production Gap: Phasing down or phasing up? Top fossil fuel producers plan ever more extraction despite climate promises.”

Read about this important intervention here.

Introducing The Borrowed Earth Project’s New Film ‘Biodiversity and Climate Change’

We are working on our third film, on Biodiversity and Climate Change, and plan to have it made in time for COP28, but almost as important, we are keen to contact youth climate groups who may be interested in showing it and discussing it with their members, so if that includes you, please get in touch!

“The climate emergency is here for the Earth’s tallest mountain, 70 years on from its first ascent, with two thirds of the Hindu-Kush Himalaya glaciers projected to vanish by the end of the century.”

Two weeks of climate talks were held in Bonn, Germany, concluding on 15 June 2023, as part of the preparation for the UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) due to take place in Dubai, UAE from 30 November to 12 December 2023. Find our summary here.