As a US licensed lawyer I worry about the rule of law in the US. The many "exceptions" the US has carved out for itself does not bode well for human rights and democracy. The US also wants to carve itself out from climate rules. This is a significant, even firm obstacle to actually stopping warming

We are far deeper in the crisis than most people realize.

The Guardian@theguardian.com · 3d ago

July set to be driest on record for England and Wales after relentless heatwaves

I am studying the right to self-determination and its intersection with climate change. Self-determination gave birth to decolonization; it protects the right of existence for peoples under occupation; for Indigenous Peoples; for oppressed peoples. It is highly relevant in the context of climate 🧵

Our governments will not be the same once they commit to a just transition, and we are truly on our way back to a habitable planet. In the US, the Constitution required several amendments to end human slavery. It became a different republic. This is the kind of social change required on climate.

In the Global North, people have to wake up to the fact that political leaders are feckless (at best) on climate change; or ecocidal and destructive at worst. Our political systems seem to bring out the worst in each other, when we need leaders and governments that can bring out the best.

Things won't start to get better on climate until we have new people in charge who are truly committed to a habitable planet. I think what's scary to people is that deep down we know that pivoting to a completely new agenda is not something that is truly permitted by our current political systems.

In international law, the plight of vulnerable States now bearing the brunt of climate change is constantly discussed, and almost grieved. But I am still constantly surprised at how little social and cultural change in the Global North is put on the table as a mitigation measure.

The US constitution was not equipped for abolition. The response was the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments. Today, the US constitution is not equipped for environmental restraint, protecting human rights, limiting Presidential power and ensuring accountability for international crimes 🧵

These are European summers moving forward. Hard adaptation now a fundamental policy requirement, juggled with the transition off of fossil fuels.

Adrian Leyser Sturm@leysersturm.eurosky.social · 6d ago

It's no longer just a passing #heatwave; it's a persistent state, made more than five times more likely by the impact of human-driven #climatechange. @climatecentral.org

The US has created an 'exception' for itself for a variety of international legal issues for decades. That exception is now extending to climate obligations. This is a serious problem because there's no way to stabilize the climate without a cooperative US 🧵

I'm a practicing lawyer wrapping up my PhD in international law, on climate change. My research focus relates to the right of self-determination. The right to self-determination once gave a voice to decolonization movements in seeking freedom, and I believe it is a key doctrine on climate.

Lowering global temperatures back to Holocene-like levels is a multi-century project. In the meantime, modern political leaders think in terms of 24 hour news No one alive today will ever experience Holocene-like conditions. The challenge is to imagine the right institutions that can guide us back

Genuine rescue of our planet will need to run through the very institutions that are failing us at present. We cannot restore a habitable planet without functioning governments and global institutions that are willing to defend and protect human rights, and hold the powerful to account.

We cannot restore a habitable planet without functioning governments, global institutions that defend and protect human rights. The powerful must be held to account. This is, in fact, the very spirit of democracy. Healing the planet and healing our sick and dying democracies are the same task.

There's an awful analogy between climate change and the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic regarding the 'half measures' taken by governments to contain a crisis that was already well in its later stages. In several years' time, impacts will be overwhelming 🧵

The Advisory Committee to the UN Human Rights Council is now assisting with a report on sea-level rise and the implications for human rights. I urged the Advisory Committee to formally advise all governments that climate change is now a "planetary threat". In addition, I recommended the below:

Today I focused on writing some of my PhD dissertation chapter related to economic self-determination and climate change impacts. Economic self-determination is a kind of "lost doctrine" of self-determination, but it is highly relevant in ensuring the economic freedom of all peoples this century 🧵

I encourage every climate expert to submit comments to the UN Special Rapporteur on Climate Change and Human Rights related to the *role of technology in addressing climate change* --> This is an important intellectual exercise related to how tech can and should be deployed in the coming years.

I was inspired from Thomas Piketty today - Piketty gave a short lecture today with UN DESA on how we can maintain a habitable planet consistent with sustainable development through 2100 summarized in this report - globaljusticeproject.wid.world Quick thread 🧵

In the US legal system, certain questions never get to be asked. The legality of the many US wars. Oil and gas policy. The destruction of the climate. At some point, we have to hold our leaders to account for their destructive and unlawful conduct.

Within the Scope of Employment

What litigation over the Iraq War and over climate change have in common

substack.com

Brilliant piece: The only people who have been sent to prison [for climate change] are those who have protested against it. www.nybooks.com/articles/202...

Climate and Punishment | Gabriel Winslow-Yost

Vigil finds George Saunders returning to the theme of his first novel, grief—this time not for a person but for a planet.

nybooks.com

In 2017 a US court ruled that ordering the Iraq War was "within the scope of employment" — a job duty — and its architects walked free of any claim for damages. This legal structure is also now shielding the leaders knowingly wrecking the climate. daveindercomar.substack.com/p/within-the...

Within the Scope of Employment

What litigation over the Iraq War and over climate change have in common

daveindercomar.substack.com

🌍 Climate diary - July 18, 2026 Climate change will get worse and worse until we do these three things: 1. *Reorienting our societies and our politics.* There is no solution to climate change without massive political and cultural change. Our societies are deeply out of balance with Earth systems.

The attacks by the US against the International Criminal Court are outrageous and a grave threat to the rule of law.

Trump Administration Vows to Dismantle the International Criminal Court

The Trump Administration has already imposed several sanctions and restrictions on ICC officials related to their investigations of alleged Israeli war crimes in Gaza.

time.com

What would it look like if the US began to truly comply with its international legal obligations to stop global warming? We don't spend nearly enough time imagining this kind of positive future. This keeps us blind to what's needed and makes it difficult to build effective coalitions 🧵

In addressing climate change, we are deciding the shape of something vast. The consequences will be felt across generations, for thousands of years. Many religions and spiritual traditions would call that a sacred responsibility. open.substack.com/pub/daveinde...

The Forbidden Summit

What the sacred can teach us about maintaining a habitable planet

open.substack.com

A movement to maintain a habitable planet will have roots in the sacred, not just in law. I explore how the sacred can help us address climate change and return to a habitable planet. daveindercomar.substack.com/p/the-forbid...

The Forbidden Summit

What the sacred can teach us about maintaining a habitable planet

daveindercomar.substack.com

🌍 Climate Diary - July 12, 2026 We need a new conception of the sacred. With nature and nature restoration being a core pillar in our relationship with the world.

I know that Trump and many Republicans take the position that climate change is not real, but their foreign policy reflects a cynical and astute understanding of the post-Holocene. U.S. demands to take over Greenland are rooted in the reality of an ice-free Arctic in the coming decades.

Trump renews call for US to take over Greenland as he arrives for Nato summit

President also threatens to pull all American troops from Europe and rails against Nato stance on Iran war

theguardian.com

I had the pleasure of being on a call yesterday on the UN's Beyond GDP initiative. A great initiative to move beyond GDP as the most important measure of 'progress.' For people in climate, carbon parts per million is the metric we look at to measure policy success. www.un.org/en/beyondGDP