Number of Climate Litigation Cases on the Rise as Governments and Companies Face Intensifying Scrutiny Over Inaction and Greenwashing

One of the most rapidly growing forms of ligitation is over so-called “climate-washing,” with 47 such cases filed in 2023, according to a new report.

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Climate litigation continued to gain popularity last year as a key strategy in tackling the ongoing climate crisis, with an increasing number of individuals, environmental groups, and affected communities seeking legal avenues to hold government and corporations accountable for their contribution to climate change and inaction.

More than 2,660 climate litigation cases have been filed around he world so far, with around 70% of them initiated after the adoption of the Paris Agreement in 2015. Last year alone, a total of 233 new climate cases were filed across 55 countries, according to a yearly assessment published Thursday by the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.

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One of the most rapidly growing forms of litigation is over “climate-washing,” the practice of using misleading or false claims to cover a company’s true climate impact and mislead consumers into believing its products and services are sustainable. More than 140 such cases have been filed to date, with 47 alone in 2023, according to the report.

More than a third of all new cases filed last year concerned the integration of climate considerations into decisions on a given project or sectoral policy. Last week, one such case saw the UK’s highest court rule that the climate impact of burning planet-warming fossil fuels must be taken into account when deciding whether to approve new projects.

The case, intiated by the campaigner Sarah Finch, concerned a developer’s application to Surrey County Council for planning permission to expand an oil production from a well site at Horse Hill in the Surrey countryside. Finch argued the council’s EIA of the project should have accounted for scope 3 emission – the result of activities from assets not owned or controlled by the reporting organization, but that the organization indirectly affects in its value chain.

Like many other rulings, the Supreme Court’s decision sets an important precedent for future fossil fuel projects in the country.

The UK is the second country for documented climate cases (139), preceded only by the US with 1,745 and followed by Brazil (82) and Germany (60). These were also the top four nations for cases filed in 2023, though new countries including Panama and Portugal also saw climate lawsuits filed for the first time last year.

Another landmark case, which concluded in April, challenged the ambition or implementation of the Swiss government’s response to its own climate policy. 15 such cases, which the report classifies under “government framwork” cases, were filed in 2023.

The case was brought about by a group of more than 2,000 women aged 64 and over known as KlimaSeniorinnen (Senior Women for Climate Protection), who argued before the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) that their government’s failure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions had violated their human rights. The women contend that more frequent and intense heatwaves – a result of climate change – are infringing on their rights to life and health. 

In what many described as a “historic win” and a “huge success for human rights,” the ECHR ruling found that the Swiss government had violated some of the women’s human rights due to “critical gaps” in its national legislation to reduce planet-heating emissions, as well as a failure to meet past climate targets. The verdict sets an important, legally binding precedent for all 46 signatories of the European Convention on Human Rights. 

The report also identified five new cases concerning the “polluter pays” principle – the idea that the costs of polluting activities should be borne by the party who caused it, rather than the individual or community who suffer from the consequences of pollution. Of the 34 such cases filed since 2015, mostly in the US, the majority remain open.

The report also identified an increasing effort by civil society actors to use courts as an instrument to spur climate action, with more than 70% of all litigation cases filed last year initiated by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and individuals.

Young people have also increasingly been at the forefront of climate litigation. Last September, six young Portuguese activists aged 11-24 brought all EU member states along with five other governments to the Europe’s top court over their alledged failure to address anthropogenic climate change. Similarly, eight young Alaska residents filed a climate lawsuit against their state last month over a natural gas project they argue would violate their constitutional rights to a clean environment.

Far-Reaching Impact

As previous rulings have shown, the impact of climate litigation extends well beyond the courtroom’s decision. As noted in another report by the Grantham Research Institute, litigation drives accountability and facilitate addressing non-compliance or inadequate ambition in the implementation of a law or in the framework of the law itself, spurring, in some cases, legislative reform. In Ireland and Germany, for example, successful government framework cases led to changes in climate framework laws.

So far, the world has warmed by 1.2C compared to pre-industrial times, though IPCC data suggests that 20-40% of the global human population live in regions that, by the decade 2006–2015, had already experienced warming of more than 1.5C in at least one season. According to the UN body, every 0.5C (0.9F) of global warming will cause discernible increases in the frequency and severity of heat extremes, heavy rainfall events, and regional droughts.

The burning of coal, natural gas, and oil for electricity and heat is the single-largest source of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. These are the primary drivers of global warming as they trap heat in the atmosphere and raising Earth’s surface temperature. Global fossil fuel consumption has more than doubled in the last 50 years, as countries around the world aim to improve their standards of living and economic output. In 2023, all three of the most potent GHGs – carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, and nitrous oxide – reached record highs.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has urged countries to halt new gas and oil field projects, arguing that this is the only way to keep the 1.5C-compatible net-zero emissions scenario alive.

With fossil fuel giants profiting billions from their planet-warming products and governments slow at cutting emissions, climate litigation is consolidating itself as a much-needed instrument to secure climate action and justice while holding those responsible accountable.