Climate litigation more than doubles in five years, says UNEP

The total number of climate change court cases has more than doubled from 884 in 2017 to 2,180 in 2022 and is growing worldwide according to the Global Climate Litigation Report: 2023 Status Review.

While most cases have been brought in the US, climate litigation is taking root worldwide, with about 17 percent of cases now being reported in developing countries, including the Small Island Developing States.

The findings, published by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University, show that climate litigation is becoming an integral part of securing climate action and justice.

The report is based on a review of cases focused on climate change law, policy, or science collected up to December 31, 2022, by the Sabin Center’s U.S. and Global Climate Change Litigation Databases.

“Climate policies are far behind what is needed to keep global temperatures below the 1.5°C threshold, with extreme weather events and searing heat already baking our planet,” said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP.

“People are increasingly turning to courts to combat the climate crisis, holding governments and the private sector accountable, and making litigation a key mechanism for securing climate action and promoting climate justice.”

The report provided an overview of crucial climate litigation cases from the past two years, including historic breakthroughs. As climate litigation increases in frequency and volume, the body of legal precedent grows, forming an increasingly well-defined field of law.

These legal actions brought in 65 bodies worldwide: international, regional, and national courts, tribunals, quasi-judicial bodies, and other adjudicatory bodies, including special procedures of the UN and arbitration tribunals.

Michael Gerrard, Sabin Center’s Faculty Director, said: “There is a distressingly growing gap between the level of greenhouse gas reductions the world needs to achieve in order to meet its temperature targets and the actions that governments are taking to lower emissions.

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“This inevitably will lead more people to resort to the courts. This report will be an invaluable resource for everyone who wants to achieve the best possible outcome in judicial forums and understand what is and is not possible there.”

The report revealed how the voices of vulnerable groups are being heard globally: 34 cases have been brought by and on behalf of children and youth under 25 years old, including by girls as young as seven and nine years of age in Pakistan and India, respectively, while in Switzerland, plaintiffs are making their case based on the disproportionate impact of climate change on senior women.

Notable cases have challenged government decisions based on the project’s inconsistency with the goals of the Paris Agreement or a country’s net-zero commitments. Growing awareness of climate change in recent years has also spurred action against corporations – these include cases seeking to hold fossil fuel companies and other greenhouse gas emitters responsible for climate harm.

According to the report, most ongoing climate litigation falls into one or more of six categories: cases relying on human rights enshrined in international law and national constitutions; challenges to domestic non-enforcement of climate-related laws and policies; litigants seeking to keep fossil fuels in the ground; advocates for more significant climate disclosures and an end to greenwashing; claims addressing corporate liability and responsibility for climate harms; and claims addressing failures to adapt to the impacts of climate change.

The report demonstrates how courts are finding strong human rights links to climate change. This is leading to greater protections for the most vulnerable groups in society, as well as increased accountability, transparency, and justice, compelling governments and corporations to pursue more ambitious climate change mitigation and adaptation goals.

In the future, the report predicts a rise in the number of cases dealing with climate migration, cases brought by Indigenous peoples, local communities, and other groups disproportionately affected by climate change, and cases addressing liability following extreme weather events.

The report also anticipates challenges in applying the science of climate attribution, as well as a rise in “backlash” cases against litigants that aim to dismantle regulations that promote climate action.