Climate change in international arbitration, the next big thing?

This article considers international arbitration as a potential forum to adjudicate climate change claims, in the form of commercial and investment arbitrations, the latter sustained by the rise of so-called ‘green’ investment treaties. In doing so, it tracks the rise of domestic legislation and litigation surrounding climate change (using France as an example), to demonstrate how the legal profession has already joined the collaborative effort to address this era-defining issue. This trend is likely to continue and become more globalised in the coming years, positioning international arbitration as an attractive mechanism for better addressing these challenges and resolving climate change disputes.