Check out global trends in climate change litigation: Do legal actions advance or restrict climate action?
The Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics and Political Science published on June 27 an elaborate analysis on ‘Global trends in climate change litigation: 2024 snapshot‘.
The report highlights a rise in climate litigation against companies. It points out that about 230 climate-aligned legal actions have been initiated against corporations and trade associations since 2015. More than 2/3 of these cases have been filed since 2020.
The analysis was based on a dataset containing 2,666 climate litigation cases. Roughly 70% of these cases have been filed since 2015, the year of adoption of the Paris agreement. The US remains the country with the highest number of documented climate cases.
Climate washing a rapidly expanding area of climate litigation
Historically, the vast majority of climate change litigation cases have been filed against the governments. This remains true in 2023 too. But in the US, just 15% of cases were filed against companies, while around 40% of cases in the rest of the world involved companies.
Climate washing is one of the most rapidly expanding areas of litigation. 47 fresh climate washing cases were filed last year against companies and governments with “more than 140 such cases filed to date”. Several of these cases have concluded in favour of the claimant.
Last year also noted important developments in ‘polluter pays’ cases. More than 30 cases filed globally currently seek to hold companies accountable for climate change-led harm allegedly caused by their contributions to greenhouse gas emissions.
Is climate litigation advancing or hindering climate action?
Climate litigation cases continue to spread across the globe. Cases have been filed for the first time in Panama and Portugal, bringing the total number of countries that have recorded climate cases to 55. Legal actions are increasing and gaining more attention in the Global South.
2023 proved to be an important year for international climate change litigation. Several major international courts and tribunals had to pass rulings. Just 5% of climate cases are before international courts, but many of these have great potential to influence domestic proceedings.
But it is difficult to determine if the rise in climate litigation is actually advancing or hindering climate action. The long-term implications of some case types like those related to climate washing remain unclear, despite the relatively high levels of success they lure in the courts.
