Climate Change Litigation: Trends, Policy Implications and the Way Forward

Abstract

Climate change has evolved from being a controversial issue to a widely recognized global threat over time. The inclusion of climate action as one of the 17 United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals, 1 the conclusion of the 2015 Paris Agreement, 2 and the publication in 2018 of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C 3 have forged an agreement among the international community on the causes and risks of climate change. At the national level, a surge of laws codifying national and international responses to climate change has given rise to a growing number of lawsuits around the world on climate change-related matters. 4 The topic of climate litigation has attracted the attention of scholars from across social sciences fields, including most prominently the legal discipline and political science. 5 Legal scholarship on climate litigation covers a broad scope

Ten new insights in climate science 2020 – a horizon scan

“…Litigation is an essential tool to urge action to prevent dangerous climate change and support the goals of the Paris Agreement (Gerrard, 2019;Setzer & Byrnes, 2019;International Bar Association, 2020;Mitkidis & Valkanou, 2020;Wegener, 2020). Most climate cases are public interest litigation against a government (e.g.…”

“…Erik Pihl et al Association, 2020;Mitkidis & Valkanou, 2020;Wegener, 2020). Most climate cases are public interest litigation against a government (e.g.…”

The End of a Decade and the Dawn of a Climate Resistance

“…As Mitkidis and Valkanou explain in their Foreword to the Symposium, the pieces in this collection 'deliver novel perspectives on the phenomenon [of climate litigation], unveiling new areas of interest, both intellectual and geographical', identifying 'gaps in existing legal scholarship', and revealing the need for expanded study of the plethora of questions to which the burgeoning body of climate litigation gives rise. 32 In the five articles in this Symposium Collection the authors explore topics as varied as the interaction between international and domestic climate change law, the complex interplay between climate law and politics, trends in climate litigation in the Global South, and the growth and variety of climate litigation cases in financial markets. Together, these articles deepen our understanding of the expanding contours of an area of law that will continue to be an important site of legal interest, energy, and innovation in the coming years.…”

“…It is this dynamism and innovation that this issue of TEL explores. The issue begins with a collection of Symposium articles that examine the 'current state of climate litigation, its implications and future prospects', 26 before turning to a case note that meticulously unpacks the strategies, strengths, and weaknesses of one particularly high-profile ongoing climate case. 27 Finally, the issue concludes with an article that reveals the extent to which the Paris Agreement 28 simultaneously advances and constrains thinking on collective and individual obligations in international law.…”