{"id":7845,"date":"2023-08-02T12:08:21","date_gmt":"2023-08-02T09:08:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/?p=7845"},"modified":"2023-08-02T12:08:23","modified_gmt":"2023-08-02T09:08:23","slug":"surging-climate-litigation-a-key-tool-for-climate-justice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/news\/surging-climate-litigation-a-key-tool-for-climate-justice","title":{"rendered":"Surging Climate Litigation: A Key Tool for Climate Justice"},"content":{"rendered":"

The total number of climate change court cases has more than doubled since 2017 and is growing worldwide. These findings,\u00a0published today by the\u00a0UN Environment Programme<\/a>\u00a0(UNEP) and\u00a0the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University<\/a>, show that climate\u00a0litigation\u00a0is becoming an integral part of securing climate action and justice.<\/p>\n

The report,\u00a0Global Climate\u00a0Litigation\u00a0Report: 2023 Status Review<\/em>, is based on a review of cases focused on climate change law, policy or science collected up to 31 December 2022 by the\u00a0Sabin Center\u2019s US and Global Climate Change\u00a0Litigation\u00a0Databases<\/a>. It is published a day ahead of the first anniversary of the UN General Assembly\u2019s\u00a0declaration<\/a>\u00a0of access to a clean and healthy environment as a universal human right.<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/em>Climate\u00a0<\/em>policies\u00a0<\/em>are\u00a0far behind<\/a>\u00a0what is needed to keep global temperatures below the 1.5\u00b0C threshold,<\/em>\u00a0with extreme weather events and searing heat already baking our planet,\u201d said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP.\u00a0<\/em>\u201cPeople are increasingly turning to courts to combat the climate crisis, holding\u00a0governments and the private sector accountable\u00a0and making\u00a0litigation\u00a0a key mechanism for securing climate action and promoting climate justice.\u201d<\/p>\n

The report provides an overview of key climate\u00a0litigation\u00a0cases from the past two years, including historic breakthroughs (see selected cases below). As climate\u00a0litigation\u00a0increases<\/a> in frequency and volume, the body of legal precedent grows, forming an increasingly well-defined field of law.<\/p>\n

The total number of climate change cases\u00a0has\u00a0more than doubled since a first report on the issue, from 884 in\u00a02017<\/a>\u00a0to 2,180 in 2022. While most cases have been brought in the US, climate\u00a0litigation\u00a0is<\/a> taking root all over the world, with about 17 per cent of cases now being reported in developing countries, including Small Island Developing States.<\/p>\n

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

“There is a distressingly growing gap between the level of greenhouse gas reductions the world needs to achieve in order to meet its temperature\u00a0targets, and the actions that governments<\/a> are actually taking to lower\u00a0emissions. This inevitably\u00a0will lead more people to resort\u00a0to the courts. This report will be an invaluable resource for everyone who wants to achieve the best possible outcome in judicial forums, and to understand what is and is not possible there,\u201d said Michael Gerrard, Sabin Center\u2019s Faculty Director.<\/p>\n

The report demonstrates 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\u00a0senior women<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Notable cases have challenged government decisions based on a project\u2019s inconsistency with the goals of the\u00a0Paris Agreement<\/a>\u00a0or a country\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

According to the report, most ongoing climate<\/a>\u00a0litigation\u00a0falls into one or more of six categories: 1) cases relying on human rights enshrined in international law and national constitutions; 2) challenges to domestic non-enforcement of climate-related laws and policies; 3) litigants seeking to keep fossil fuels in the ground; 4) advocates for greater climate disclosures and an end to greenwashing; 5) claims addressing corporate liability and responsibility for climate harms; and 6) claims addressing failures to adapt to the impacts of climate change.<\/p>\n

The report demonstrates how courts are finding strong human rights linkages to climate change. This is leading to greater protections<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

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<\/a>. The report also anticipates challenges in applying the science of climate attribution as well as a rise in \u201cbacklash\u201d cases against litigants which aim to dismantle regulations that promote climate action<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Key climate\u00a0litigation\u00a0cases<\/strong><\/a> and matters covered in the report include:<\/p>\n