Center for International Environmental Law

2025 Annual Impact Report

In 2025 — grounded in justice and collective power — we shaped history and put human rights at the heart of climate and environmental action.
Explore the Impact
A Turning Point for Climate Justice

The ICJ has spoken: States now have a binding legal duty to prevent climate harm and protect human rights. Explore the historic ruling, what it means for accountability, for people, and planet.
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Making Our Ocean Fossil-Free

Learn about the risks of offshore oil and gas and how the law can help hold industry actors accountable.
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Geoengineering: Climate’s Risky Bet

Geoengineering technologies seek to cool the Earth, overlooking climate change’s root causes, and introducing new risks
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Press

Industrial Accelerator Act Risks Locking in Fossil Dependence and Weakening Environmental Safeguards

BRUSSELS, March 4, 2026 – The European Union’s Industrial Accelerator Act (IAA), announced today as a measure to boost... Read More

Press

Unlawful Strikes on Iran Escalate Impunity, Injustice, and Insecurity

WASHINGTON / GENEVA, March 3, 2026 —The Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) condemns in the strongest terms the... Read More

Press

$345 Million Verdict Against Greenpeace: An Attack on Free Speech and Indigenous Rights

WASHINGTON, March 3, 2026— A judge in North Dakota ordered Greenpeace on February 28 to pay damages of $345... Read More

Blog

Multilateralism Under Strain: Why the Human Rights Council Matters for Environmental Justice

In a polarized geopolitical landscape, the Human Rights Council remains a critical platform for advancing environmental justice through norm-setting,...

Picture of European Union Flags in a line set in front of a building which is the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium.

Blog

The European Commission’s Toxic Relationship: How Corporate Influence is Rewriting European Union Policy

The European Commission is in a toxic relationship with the petrochemicals industry and it is rewriting EU policy. The...

Blog

Storms Pass, the Law Remains: Pathways to Climate Reparations

Storms pass. The damage stays. And so does legal responsibility. Courts are making clear: climate reparations are legal duties,...

Publications

Time to act: Securing a Sustainable Future Through Corporate Accountability (March 2026)

As climate disruption, biodiversity loss, pollution, and toxic exposure intensify worldwide, the need for stronger corporate accountability is more... Read More