Legal & Regulatory News

Grantham Research Institute report on the ‘Global Trends in Climate Change Litigation.’

On 30 June 2022, the Grantham Research Institute (the GRI) at the London School of Economics published their long-awaited annual report on, ‘Global trends in climate change litigation – 2022 snapshot.’

The report includes an analysis of recent global trends in climate change litigation from May 2021-2022, drawing on direct case studies to identify current trends and to predict future increases in climate change litigation.

The GRI report presents a number of examples of the way in which the law is being used to hold governments and corporations to account, especially regarding alleged inconsistencies with net-zero commitments.

The GRI's overall findings suggest that climate change-related cases have more than doubled since 2015, with over 2000 cases brought in the last 7 years, and one quarter of which have brought in the last two years.

The GRI’s work also indicates that many of these lawsuits are being brought with a 'strategic ambition,' to bring about a wider societal shift, with 73 cases issued in respect of governments’ responses to climate change.

Click here to view the press release.

Click here to access the report.