Climate Change Litigation: A Reference Area for Liability

Abstract

The chapter looks at climate change litigation against the backdrop of existing law. It uses a comparative approach to discuss tort and nuisance type cases that have principally occurred in the U.S., Germany, and the Netherlands. The chapter establishes different categories of horizontal civil litigation and discusses key legal and forensic issues where climate cases serve particularly well as a reference area for transboundary corporate liability. This includes justiciability, causation, standing and compensable damage as well as the existence and extent of a duty of care.