Turning climate responsibility into enforceable compensation.
We litigate in major economies to build legal pathways for climate-displaced communities.
Dear Patrons and Friends,
Climate Justice Counsel is a small group of international lawyers who came together to fight the immediate reality of climate change as it reshapes coastlines, economies, and lives around the globe.
Climate change does not impact us all equally. We have witnessed that the heaviest costs are borne by vulnerable populations who have contributed the least to the climate crisis, yet find themselves on its front lines.
Our mission is to turn legal obligations into enforceable protection. Working with individuals and frontline communities in the Pacific Islands, we pursue remedies, including compensation for climate-related loss and damage, and defend human, civil, and property rights. When international legal obligations are not met by major contributing countries, we take the fight to their courts.
U. G. Suh
Co-Chair and Founder
Take the next step.
Chapter I
A New Normative Foundation
In its landmark 2025 Advisory Opinion, the International Court of Justice affirmed that States have obligations under customary international law to protect the climate system from significant harm. It also recognized that key climate obligations are owed to the international community as a whole—giving climate accountability a powerful foundation in international law.
How It Works
From Climate Harm to Enforceable Legal Remedies
Climate Justice Counsel works with Pacific Island communities, local counsel, scientists, and legal researchers to translate climate-related displacement and property loss into claims that can be tested in domestic courts.
Community & Local Counsel
Document the Loss
Work with affected communities and local counsel to identify legally relevant property loss, displacement, customary interests, and economic harm.
- Losses are defined by the communities themselves, not imposed from outside.
- Documentation is organized to withstand evidentiary scrutiny.
Law, Science & Valuation
Build the Evidence
Combine factual documentation with property valuation, climate science, attribution analysis, and other technical evidence.
- Attribution science is paired with rigorous economic valuation.
- Evidence is assembled to meet the standards of a specific forum.
Forum & Cause of Action
Identify the Legal Pathway
Assess jurisdiction, potential defendants, applicable law, and viable domestic claims — negligence, nuisance, property claims, inverse condemnation, or other civil remedies.
- Each jurisdiction is assessed on its own substantive and procedural law.
- We test which theories are viable before any claim is advanced.
Domestic Litigation
Test the Claim in Court
Work with locally admitted lawyers to develop and, where appropriate, pursue claims in domestic courts capable of issuing enforceable remedies.
- Claims are led by locally admitted counsel at every stage.
- Litigation is pursued only where a court can grant an enforceable remedy.
Remedy & Precedent
Pursue Remedy & Precedent
Seek legally available remedies for affected plaintiffs while developing precedent and strategy that may inform future climate litigation.
- The immediate aim is a remedy for the affected plaintiffs.
- Lessons and strategy are shared to inform future efforts.
International principles,
domestic remedies.
- International Legal Context
- Public international law
- Environmental law
- Human rights law
- International tribunals & advisory proceedings
- Domestic Legal Pathway
- Community rights
- Property & civil claims
- Domestic courts
- Judgment & enforcement
International legal principles may help inform domestic legal arguments, but domestic courts apply their own substantive and procedural law.
Who Is Involved
- Community Representatives
- Define affected interests, losses, priorities, and objectives.
- Local Counsel
- Provide jurisdiction-specific advice, representation, and local legal knowledge.
- Climate Justice Counsel
- Develops cross-border legal strategy and connects international principles with domestic legal pathways.
- Scientific & Technical Experts
- Support climate attribution, valuation, modeling, and other evidentiary questions.
- Academic & Legal Collaborators
- Stress-test legal theories and contribute research, scholarship, and comparative analysis.
Building a legal pathway from loss to remedy.
Climate Justice Counsel works across communities, jurisdictions, and disciplines to develop legally rigorous approaches to climate-related property loss and displacement.
Our Executives
The people leading our fight for enforceable climate justice, bringing decades of legal and policy experience to communities on the front lines.
Ui-young Suh
Co-Chair and Founder
View bio
Dr. Vanesa Menéndez Montero
Co-Chair
View bio
Ken Nam
Co-Chair
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