Climate Change and Species Protection: Reimagining Environmental Law in the Anthropocene

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6239-725-5_3How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Biodiversity Protection; Climate Litigation; SDG 13; 15 & 16

Abstract

One of the biggest threats to biodiversity worldwide is climate change, which is hastening the extinction of species at a never-before-seen pace. Ecosystems are changing due to factors like rising temperatures, sea level rise, ocean acidification, changed precipitation patterns, and extreme weather events, making conventional conservation methods ineffective. The diffuse, transboundary, and systemic nature of climate-induced species loss is currently putting both domestic and international legal frameworks to the test. Historically, these frameworks were created to address localized environmental harms like pollution or habitat destruction. Through the prism of domestic biodiversity laws, international environmental law, climate litigation, and developing jurisprudence, this chapter explores the legal ramifications of climate change for the protection of species. It assesses important documents like the Endangered Species Act, the Paris Agreement, the Convention on Biological Diversity, and court rulings like the historic Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency. The chapter makes the case that an integrated legal strategy that balances rights-based frameworks, ecosystem restoration, adaptation, and climate mitigation is necessary to protect species in the Anthropocene focusing on SDG 13, 15 & 16. In order to increase species resilience to climate stress, it ends by suggesting doctrinal and policy changes.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Tarkesh Molia
AU  - Rahul J. Nikam
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/07/07
TI  - Climate Change and Species Protection: Reimagining Environmental Law in the Anthropocene
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference on Conceptualizing Legal Framework and Policies for Domestic Animal and Wildlife Conservation: Issues and Challenges in Hybrid Mode (ICAR 2026)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 19
EP  - 31
SN  - 2667-128X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-725-5_3
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6239-725-5_3
ID  - Molia2026
ER  -