Climate change litigation is booming, with many new cases being brought forward throughout the world.

Climate change litigation is an umbrella term that may be used for any lawsuit broadly connected to climate change.

One example are lawsuits brought by individuals, cultural minority groups, indigenous peoples or environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs) against a federal state or a sub-state/province, seeking stricter climate protection measures. Such lawsuits can target a specific law, program or policy which the litigants deem to be insufficient. In the absence of such a law, program or policy, litigants may seek an order by the court to force the legislature or government to enact climate legislation and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Another example are motions for judicial review of particular projects, such as the expansion of an oil pipeline, construction of an airport or highway, or authorization to extract natural resources, which are claimed to negatively affect the climate.

Lawsuits against private companies (particularly oil or energy companies), aiming to force them to reduce their carbon footprint, are another example of climate change related litigation.

On the other hand, companies or individuals may file lawsuits against a federal or sub-state government challenging climate regulations which they deem to be too strict.

Climate change litigation has boomed in recent years, with new cases being brought weekly in different countries around the world.

The United States has been at the forefront, with more than a thousand lawsuits relating to climate change pending or adjudicated (material on US cases can be found on the website of Columbia University’s Sabin Center for Climate Change Law).

Other countries which have seen large numbers of climate change related cases are Australia, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Canada, but litigation is also advancing in countries of the global South such as India, Pakistan and Brazil (statistics and material on climate change litigation outside the USA can be found on the website of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment).

During the early days of climate change litigation, few people may have believed that such cases can ever be successful in courts of law, or that they can have any substantial impact on a country’s climate policies.

In recent years, however, litigants have achieved significant victories.

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