In June 2020, the Constitutional Court of Ecuador agreed to hear an infrastructural challenge brought by Los Cedros Reserve against the government on the grounds that its concessions for mining exploration and exploitation projects violate the Rights of Nature enshrined in the Ecuadorian constitution. The claimants are also arguing that the projects violate the legal […]
The EU General Court rejected the claimant’s arguments that their countries’ GHG reduction targets were too low on the basis that the claim was inadmissible because the claimants were not individually concerned by EU law on climate change (i.e. they lacked sufficient interest).
The IPCC is an international body for assessing climate science. Hundreds of leading climate scientists take part in it, and 195 representatives of countries are members of the IPCC, giving its findings exceptional weight. The IPCC conducts scientific assessments of existing climate science. Its findings provide the basis for all the major international agreements on […]
The Claimant, an environmental organisation, purchased some shares in the defendant company and sued it in its capacity as a shareholder in Poland. The Claimant argued that a proposal by ENEA to construct a new coal plant risked breaching board members’ fiduciary duties of due diligence and to act in the best interests of the […]
A case brought by a Peruvian farmer in German courts against RWE (a German energy company) for their contribution to climate change and its impact on glacial melts and flooding of his community. They demand that RWE contribute to adaptation costs required to protect against flooding.
An environmental organisation in South Africa successfully challenged the opening of a new coal mine on the basis that the responsible public body failed to take into consideration its climate impacts when licensing the project.
A case was brought against government authorities in Pakistan by a local farmer for their failure to put in place sufficient adaptation measures and the resulting damage to his livelihood. The Court held that Pakistan had violated citizens’ rights to life, dignity and property and ordered the government to take measures to minimise the impacts […]
A Dutch environmental group and 886 citizens sued the Netherlands for not taking enough action to reduce their GHG emissions. In 2019, the Dutch Supreme Court found that the Dutch government must, by 2020, have reduced their GHG emissions by at least 25% from 1990 levels. The government’s failure to do this was a violation […]
The Model Statute provides a number of rationales, precedents and articles that would support climate litigation for the reduction of greenhouse gases.
LSE, the Grantham Research Institute and the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law have a database on climate litigation and climate laws/policies around the world.
