More Climate Lawsuits Than Ever Are Trying to Hold Companies and Countries to Account

The annual report from the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics assessing climate litigation trends found that at least 230 new climate cases were filed in 2023. But report authors Joana Setzer and Kate Higham noted that the number of climate lawsuits expanded less rapidly than in previous years.

They said the trend could suggest “a consolidation and concentration of strategic litigation efforts in areas anticipated to have high impact.”

Still, climate litigation continued to spread to new countries in 2023, with cases filed for the first time in Panama and Portugal.

Whether the court cases are “advancing or hindering remains difficult to determine,” Setzer and Higham wrote. But they added that some lawsuits have clearly had an impact on climate governance.

• 50 new “climate-washing” cases were filed in 2023
• 70% of completed cases decided in faavor of the challengers.
• There is also potential for an increase in litigation that challenges governments’ net-zero targets

Read the full post at Scientific American.