In 2023 alone, 233 new climate lawsuits were filed

There are 2,666 climate lawsuits underway around the world, mostly targeting governments, but also companies.A growing number.

• There are 2,666 climate lawsuits underway worldwide, with 233 filed in 2023 alone.
• They are addressed mainly to governments but also, in 25 percent of cases, to companies.
• The accusation most frequently leveled against companies is that of climate washing, a commitment to the climate that is only superficial.

How can we push governments to adopt bolder emission reduction plans?How can we expose companies when they greenwash, or force them to pay damages when they have a gigantic impact in terms of emissions?More and more often, to achieve similar results we try the path of climate lawsuits.Only in 2023, some were started 233 all over the world.This is what emerges from the new reports published by the Grantham research institute in collaboration with the Sabin center for climate change law.

How many climate lawsuits are underway around the world?

Currently, the database registers 2,666 climate lawsuits filed in courts around the world.The absolute majority, around 70 percent, was started after the adoption of theParis climate agreement.233 date back to 2023:a number that is increasing but more slowly than in previous years, suggesting that the promoters have preferred to avoid wasting energy.

2023 is also the year of the first climate lawsuits filed against Panama and in Portugal.For now, more than half of the existing legal actions concern United States:a total of 1,745 were documented, of which 129 were filed in 2023 alone.They follow, but very far away, United Kingdom (139 cases of which 24 started in 2023), Brazil (82 cases of which 10 in 2023) e Germany (60 cases of which 7 in 2023).

Only a small minority of climate lawsuits – around 5 percent of the total – have been brought to court. international court.But these initiatives, despite being numerically few, could have cascading consequences on many others.This is the case of the historian resort to European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg that the Elders for the Climate won against Switzerland in April 2024 (therefore outside the perimeter investigated by the report).

What are the reasons for lawsuits against companies and governments

Again in 2023, in 70 percent of cases they were individuals and non-governmental organizations to initiate climate legal action.The latter are mainly addressed to governments and only to a lesser extent, in 25 percent of cases, to companies.

Since 2015, however, companies have become increasingly involved.The accusation that has been made against them most often is that of climate washing, that is, climate commitments that do not correspond to real initiatives:there were 140 cases of this type from 2015 onwards, of which 47 were filed in 2023 alone.Among those that were concluded, more than seven out of ten agreed with the appellants.

Among the most promising lines there is also the one renamed "the polluter pays”, which brings together climate legal actions that try to force companies to compensate for the damage to the community that they have caused by emitting enormous quantities of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.From 2015 onwards, 34 have been filed, of which five in 2023.Among them there is also the cause that the government of California has brought proceedings against five oil giants and the American Petroleum Institute, accusing them of lying for decades about the dangers of fossil fuels.