Recent evidence shows that climate change is leading to irreversible and existential impacts on vulnerable communities and countries across the globe. Among other effects, this has given rise to public debate and engagement around notions of climate crisis and emergency. The Loss and Damage (L&D) policy debate has emphasized these aspects over the last three decades. Yet, despite institutionalization through an article on L&D by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in the Paris Agreement, the debate has remained vague, particularly with reference to its remit and relationship to adaptation policy and practice. Research has recently made important strides forward in terms of developing a science perspective on L&D. This article reviews insights derived from recent publications by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and others, and presents the implications for science and policy. Emerging evidence on hard and soft adaptation limits in certain systems, sectors and regions holds the potential to further build momentum for climate policy to live up to the Paris ambition of stringent emission reductions and to increase efforts to support the most vulnerable. L&D policy may want to consider actions to extend soft adaptation limits and spur transformational, that is, nonstandard risk management and adaptation, so that limits are not breached. Financial, technical, and legal support would be appropriate for instances where hard limits are transgressed. Research is well positioned to further develop robust evidence on critical and relevant risks at scale in the most vulnerable countries and communities, as well as options to reduce barriers and limits to adaptation.

This contribution explores how climate-vulnerable states can effectively use the law to force action in order to address loss and damage from climate change, taking the Pacific Island state of Vanuatu as an example. Vanuatu made headlines when its Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and External Trade, the Hon. Ralph Regenvanu, announced his government's intention to explore legal action as a tool to address climate loss and damage suffered in Vanuatu. Our contribution places this announcement in the context of Vanuatu's own experience with climate loss and damage, and the state's ongoing efforts to secure compensation for loss and damage through the multilateral climate change regime. We then discuss the possibilities for legal action to seek redress for climate loss and damage, focusing on two types of action highlighted in Minister Regenvanu's statement: action against states under international law, and action against fossil fuel companies under domestic law. After concluding that the issue of compensation for climate loss and damage is best addressed at the multilateral level, we offer proposals on how the two processes of litigation and negotiation could interact with each other and inspire more far-reaching action to address loss and damage from climate change. Key policy insights. The review of the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage offers an opportunity to start putting in place a facility for loss and damage finance under the auspices of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).. A climate damages tax (CDT) on fossil fuel companies seems a particularly promising option for mobilizing loss and damage finance. Such a CDT could be one revenue stream for a relevant loss and damage facility.. Legal actionincluding cases against foreign states or fossil fuel companiescould bolster the position of climate-vulnerable states in multilateral negotiations on loss and damage finance.

International human rights law has evolved to offer specific protection to persons who are internally displaced. This protection is becoming increasingly important as the effects of climate change are putting more populations around the world at risk of displacement. However, there is still limited empirical insight into the factors that enhance or undermine effective protection of the rights of climate displaced persons in practice. This article seeks to fill this gap, drawing on a case study of climate displacement resulting from Tropical Cyclone Pam which struck the Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu in March 2015. We note that Vanuatu has an expansive suite of laws and policies dedicated to disaster preparation, risk reduction and response, as well as climate change and disaster displacement. However, its capacity to fulfil its human rights obligations in the face of climate disasters is undermined by a lack of resources and institutional capacity. We argue that this gap must be addressed through an integrated approach to international law that emphasises human rights obligations of international cooperation and assistance along with obligations relating to climate change mitigation, adaptation and capacity building under international climate change law. Vanuatu's experience with Cyclone Pam also provides a clear case for strengthening the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage Associated with Climate Change Impacts ('Warsaw Mechanism') in a manner that results in enhanced human rights protection for climate displaced persons.

The right to a remedy is central to a human rights approach to climate change. However, a range of obstacles inhibit access to justice for victims of human rights violations caused by climate change. This article considers two elements of the right to a remedy: access to justice and substantive redress. In relation to access to justice, it considers the potential of domestic courts, as well as regional and international bodies, to offer redress for human rights violations caused by climate change. In relation to substantive redress, it examines international jurisprudence on remedies and discusses its applicability in the context of climate change. Together, these discussions provide an insight into the obstacles to justice for human rights violations caused by climate change and the ways in which these may be overcome.

Energy is central to both the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement and a prerequisite to the realization of human rights for billions of people. Yet the nexus between human rights, climate change and energy remains underdeveloped in international law and practice. This article considers the potential and limitations of a ‘human rights approach’ to energy to accelerate progress towards universal access to modern energy services while addressing climate change and inequalities. It considers three distinct elements of a human rights approach to energy: a discursive element; a mainstreaming element; and a litigation element. In exploring the potential contributions of each of these elements to a just energy transition, it demonstrates how a human rights approach to energy can help to address some of the shortcomings of the Sustainable Development Goals related to energy and climate.