Global Climate Litigation Report: 2023 Status Review

Abstract

"This report, which updates the 2017 document by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) entitled The Status of Climate Change Litigation: A Global Review, provides an overview of the current state of climate change litigation, as well as a fresh assessment of global climate change litigation trends. It finds that a rapid increase in climate litigation has occurred around the world. The 2017 Litigation Report identified 884 cases brought in 24 countries, comprised of 654 cases in the United States of America and 230 cases in all other countries combined. As of 1 July 2020, the number of cases has nearly doubled with at least 1,550 climate change cases filed in 38 countries (39 counting the courts of the European Union). Those cases include approximately 1,200 filed in the U.S. and over 350 filed in all other countries combined. Key trends include: ongoing and increasing numbers of cases relying on fundamental and human rights enshrined in international law and national constitutions to compel climate action; challenging domestic enforcement (and non-enforcement) of climate-related laws and policies; seeking to keep fossil fuels in the ground; claiming corporate liability and responsibility for climate harms; addressing failures to adapt and the impacts of adaptation; and advocating for greater climate disclosures and an end to corporate greenwashing on the subject of climate change and the energy transition. Summaries of significant cases appear throughout this report, providing context and examples of those issues and the trends they comprise"--Page 4.