A natural resource beyond the sky: invoking the public trust doctrine to protect the atmosphere from greenhouse gas emissions

Varvastian, Samvel ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-4645-721X 2019. A natural resource beyond the sky: invoking the public trust doctrine to protect the atmosphere from greenhouse gas emissions. Tegner Anker, Helle and Egelund Olsen, Birgitte, eds. Sustainable Management of Natural Resources: Legal Instruments and Approaches, European Environmental Law Forum, vol. 5. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 121-136. (10.1017/9781780687834.008)

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Abstract

The persisting absence of comprehensive climate change legislation in the United States has long resulted in the ever-growing number of climate-related lawsuits. Litigation has been used in various ways, for example, by requesting the regulating bodies to introduce new air quality standards, or by targeting specific individual greenhouse gas emissions sources. In the last few years, climate plaintiffs have increasingly relied on common law public trust doctrine and constitutional provisions granting rights to natural resources in an attempt to force the government to take decisive climate change mitigation measures. The latter line of climate cases, also known as atmospheric trust litigation, is the result of a nationwide campaign, which seeks judicial recognition of the fact that the planet's atmosphere is a natural resource; thus, its protection from dangerous greenhouse gas emissions is an essential obligation of the government. This chapter explores how United States courts have interpreted the public trust doctrine with regard to the atmosphere.

Item Type:	Book Section
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	Published
Schools:	Law
Subjects:	K Law > K Law (General) K Law > KF United States Federal Law
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
ISBN:	9781780687834
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	18 May 2023
Last Modified:	14 Jun 2024 10:45
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/159633

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