![Children play on the beach near sandbags that have been placed to hold back rising sea levels in a village in Kiribati. Kids playing on a beach](https://osjicontent.imgix.net/uploads/1354733b-2a10-4d56-8091-f281d3ade0e0/20210127-lohuizen-kiribati-climate-crop-3000.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&q=80&rect=89%2C0%2C2542%2C1429)
Climate Justice
We seek to end the systemic harm caused by climate change—from flooded homes to financial crises—that deepens existing social inequities and injustices.
The climate crisis presents an unprecedented challenge that threatens human rights and the very foundation of open society itself.
The increased economic and social strains brought by climate change provide authoritarians with the opportunity to use crisis as a reason to silence democratic debate, discriminate, and foment conflict across national borders. Meanwhile, for too long, powerful opponents, including the fossil fuel industry and agribusiness, with their financial allies and lobbying, might have blocked much-needed change.
The Justice Initiative seeks to end the systemic harm caused by the climate crisis—from corporate corruption to government inaction—that deepens existing social inequities and injustices. This entails disrupting global trade, whose production chains enable shameful and illegal labor and environmental practices, such as the beef and palm oil industries; supporting the most vulnerable communities in fighting back against major carbon emitters; ensuring just climate finance reparations and recognition of the loss and damage caused by the climate crisis; and holding states accountable to their national and international obligations.
Toxic Forest Fires and COVID-19 Could Be a Deadly Combination in Southeast Asia
Yearly toxic smog from tropical forest and peatland fires in Indonesia, which spill into Malaysia and Singapore, could exacerbate the COVID-19 pandemic. The government and agri-businesses must change course now to avert this manufactured disaster.
![A group of students and a teacher under a haze filled sky](https://osjicontent.imgix.net/uploads/c0de59cb-4d4c-43f2-94c3-7e3be5ab0b85/20200708-rasfan-kuala-lumpur-smog-fires-3000.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&q=80&rect=0%2C63%2C3000%2C1875)
Why Airline Bailouts Must Come with Carbon Emissions Reductions
Should the U.S. Congress continue to bailout airline executives and shareholders, it must do so without compounding our environmental crisis for decades to come.
![People walk through an airport](https://osjicontent.imgix.net/uploads/7b579aba-c0a5-409c-84e9-9030f56892cf/20200702-caballero-virginia-airport-3000.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&q=80&rect=0%2C63%2C3000%2C1875)
Recent work
Q&A: The Inter-American Court Takes a Lead on our Climate Emergency
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights is in the midst of public consultations on legal questions arising from the climate emergency—that will shape future law and policy in the region.
![A man tips a wheelbarrow of mud out onto a devastated street in Cruzeiro do Sul, Brazil, on May 8, 2024](https://osjicontent.imgix.net/uploads/8dab39dd-42c1-45b9-baa3-d3dbc15d3cc0/20240522-moreira-brazil-flood-3000.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&q=80&rect=0%2C63%2C3000%2C1875)
Justice Initiative Welcomes ITLOS Advisory Opinion on Climate Change and the Marine Environment
An authoritative legal opinion from the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea will fortify international climate commitments and compel stronger actions to mitigate climate harm.
Justice Initiative Urges Expansive Rights Framework for Climate Displacement
As the Inter-American Court of Human Rights develops an Advisory Opinion on the climate emergency that will shape policy across the region, the Justice Initiative has submitted recommendations focused on rights and human mobility.
- Climate Justice
- Digital Rights and Fair Elections
- Discrimination and Racial Justice
- International Crimes