Climate litigation more than doubles in five years
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By: UNEP
July 27, 2023
Nairobi, 27 July 2023 – The total number of climate change court cases has more than doubled since 2017 and is growing worldwide. These findings, published today by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University, show that climate litigation is becoming an integral part of securing climate action and justice.
The report, Global Climate Litigation Report: 2023 Status Review, is based on a review of cases focused on climate change law, policy or science collected up to 31 December 2022 by the Sabin Center’s US and Global Climate Change Litigation Databases. It is published a day ahead of the first anniversary of the UN General Assembly’s declaration of access to a clean and healthy environment as a universal human right.
“Climate policies are far behind what is needed to keep global temperatures below the 1.5°C threshold, with extreme weather events and searing heat already baking our planet,” said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP. “People are increasingly turning to courts to combat the climate crisis, holding governments and the private sector accountable and making litigation a key mechanism for securing climate action and promoting climate justice.”
The report provides an overview of key climate litigation cases from the past two years, including historic breakthroughs (see selected cases below). As climate litigation increases in frequency and volume, the body of legal precedent grows, forming an increasingly well-defined field of law.
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