Nollkaemper: Causation Puzzles in International Climate Litigation

André Nollkaemper (Univ. of Amsterdam - Law) has posted Causation Puzzles in International Climate Litigation (Italian Yearbook of International Law, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

The multiplicity of causes of climate change may make it very difficult, if not impossible, to establish causal connections between individual states’ greenhouse gas emissions and the harmful effects of climate change. This causation puzzle offers states a defence against claims that they would be responsible for harmful effects. However, the increasing body of national and international case law on climate change has shown that this puzzle need not preclude the determination of the responsibility of states and other actors contributing to climate change. This paper examines how courts have replaced unsolvable puzzles of cause-effect relations with normative standards based on the imperative to prevent global risks of climate harm. It also identifies the causation puzzles that courts have not (yet) cracked, notably concerning compensation.