13 March 2025
The Heidelberg Declaration on Transforming Global Meat Governance
Meat is at the center of interrelated environmental and public health crises: climate change, biodiversity loss, deforestation, pandemics, food insecurity, unhealthy and unsustainable diets, and institutionalized animal suffering. While eating or not eating meat has traditionally been seen as a private choice, it is increasingly becoming a public and political issue, as the social, ecological, and ethical costs of industrialized meat production are becoming more visible and prominent. Scientific evidence is piling indicating the need for a sustainable food system and dietary transitions away from animal-based foods. Continue reading >>
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12 November 2024
Lessons of a Landmark Lost
On 12 November 2024, the Hague Court of Appeal in Shell v Milieudefensie set aside the preceding 2021 judgment which held Shell responsible for its contribution to climate change. The 2021 judgment was widely heralded (though also critiqued) as groundbreaking and a precedent that could be followed elsewhere. While the Appeal judgment is unlikely to receive similar praise from climate activists, it contains important lessons regarding the responsibility of multinational companies for their contributions to climate change. Continue reading >>28 May 2021
Shell’s Responsibility for Climate Change
On 26 May 2021, the District Court of the Hague rendered a judgment in the case Milieudefensie v Royal Dutch Shell that can rightly be called revolutionary. This is the first judgment of its kind in which a multinational corporation is held responsible, in part based on international law, for its contribution to climate change. Continue reading >>
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