US conservation groups filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump on Feb. 19, asserting that the administration violated the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act by issuing an executive order reversing withdrawals of oil and gas leases. The groups filed the suit in the US District Court for the District of Alaska, alleging that the protected waters affected by Trump's order have extensive marine biodiversity that provides social and scientific benefits. The conservationists also noted that the deafening sounds of exploration and drilling activities injure marine life and degrade their habitat, and that the development of just one oil lease would create a 75% chance of an oil spill greater than 1,000 barrels. Pollution from vessels and aircraft around the areas could also cause significant harm, even if an oil spill were not to occur. The conservationists further alleged that surveys and drilling also harm commercial fishing, and therevy ultimately harm local economies.

US President Joe Biden issued two memoranda on Jan. 6 to prohibit new offshore drilling within three ocean and coastal regions, compromising over 625 million acres. One of the memoranda withdraws the entire eastern US Atlantic coast and the eastern Gulf of Mexico as well as the Pacific Coast along California, Oregon and Washington. The other orders the withdrawal of certain portions of the Northern Bering Sea in Alaska. According to the White House press release, the withdrawals in these regions are aimed at protecting "coastal communities, marine ecosystems, and local economies—including fishing, recreation, and tourism—from oil spills and other impacts of offshore drilling."

A group of Palestinian-British individuals has taken initial steps to bring British Petroleum (BP) to court, accusing the company of aiding and abetting war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. The action led by Bimdman's LLP asserts BP's complicity through the continuous supply of crude oil to Israel, facilitated by the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) Pipeline, amid ongoing military operations in Gaza since October 2023. The claimants, backed by the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP), aim to hold BP responsible for their suffering and press for the company's immediate cessation of activities they say expedite the conflict.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Dec. 26 signed a bill into law empowering the state government to levy heavy fines on fossil fuel companies. The fines will go to a "superfund" that pays for addressing environmental damages caused by human-driven climate change. The Climate Change Superfund Act creates an adaptation cost recovery program which will be paid for by fossil fuel companies and is estimated to raise $75 billion over 25 years. Climate change is expected to cost New York taxpayers half a trillion dollars in repair and preparations for extreme weather between now and 2050.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, commenced hearings Dec. 2 on the obligations of states concerning climate change. The oral proceedings are scheduled to run for nine days at the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands.

The request for an advisory opinion from the ICJ was submitted in March 2023, following the unanimous adoption of Resolution 77/276 by the UN General Assembly. The resolution sought the court's guidance on the obligations of sates to "ensure the protection of the climate system…for present and future generations," and the legal implications of "acts and omissions [that] have caused significant harm to the climate system." The second question especially addresses the international community's legal responsibilities to small island developing States, which are disproportionately threatened by the adverse effects of climate change.

Global carbon emissions from fossil fuels have hit a record high in 2024, with still no sign that they've peaked, according to a "carbon budget" assessment by the UK-based Global Carbon Project. The researchers found that burning of oil, gas and coal emitted 41.2 billion tons (37.4 billion metric tons) of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere in 2024, a 0.8% increase over 2023. When added to emissions generated by land-use changes such as deforestation, a total of 45.8 billion tons (41.6 billion metric tons) of CO2 was emitted in 2024. At this rate, the researchers estimate there's a 50% chance that global warming will exceed the 1.5 Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) warming target set by the Paris Agreement within six years. The findings were published Nov. 13 in the journal Earth Systems Science Data. (LiveScience, DW)

The president of the Fourth International Conference of Small Island Developing States (SIDS), Gaston Alphonso Browne, accused wealthy nations of empty climate pledges on May 27, referring to a lack of financial help to developing countries, along with the inadequacy of carbon emission reduction efforts. The summit, entited "Charting the Course Toward Resilient Prosperity," was hosted by Antigua & Barbuda, where Browne serves as prime minister. Browne blasted developed nations for failing to meet their "obligation to compensation" to the SIDS nations. This refers to the annual $100 billion that was agreed to under the 15th Conference of Parties (COP15) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2009 and reiterated in the 2015 Paris Agreement.

The US Department of Energy on April 25 released its preliminary estimate for the nation's carbon emissions in the previous year. While falling far short of the kind of drop needed to meet the Paris Agreement goals, a dip in emissions was recorded—almost entirely due to changes in the electric power sector. US carbon emissions have been trending downward since 2007, when they peaked at about six gigatonnes. The COVID-19 pandemic produced a dramatic drop in emissions in 2020, bringing the yearly total to below five gigatonnes for the first time since before 1990, when DoE monitoring began. Carbon dioxide releases rose after the return to "normalcy"; 2023 marked the first post-pandemic decline, with emissions again below five gigatonnes.