The rise of international climate litigation

Abstract

International climate litigation is on the rise, with international courts and tribunals being asked to offer advisory opinions on climate change, several rights-based climate change claims being put forward before international human rights bodies and courts, and international economic tribunals increasingly being engaged with the issue. This special issue on international climate litigation examines these trends and seeks to better understand how international litigation may foster (or, sometimes, impede) action on climate change. In this introduction to the special issue, we offer our reflections based on some of the central themes of the special issue. In particular, we underscore the need to think strategically about the possible (intended and unintended) outcomes of international climate litigation.