Why Climate Risk Is Here to Stay

Climate litigation is now widely acknowledged as a real and imminent threat to governments, public bodies, and company boards, particularly in carbon-intensive sectors like energy and heavy industry.

Plaintiffs’ aims include upholding accountability for ‘climate harms,’ driving direct and indirect regulatory shifts, prompting systemic behavioral change, and raising public awareness of climate change and environmental issues, as highlighted in the June 2022 policy report ‘Global Trends in Climate Change Litigation,’ by the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.

Most non-U.S. climate lawsuits to date have targeted governments and public bodies, challenging the implementation or ambition of climate targets...