28 countries face lawsuits

Legal action on climate change has become a global phenomenon, with lawsuits launched against governments and corporate interests in 28 countries so far, according to new research published yesterday.

A report from the Grantham Research Institute at the London School of Economics and Political Science looked at instances of legal action on climate change from 1990 to May 2019.

Researchers found that while the US remains the global leader in terms of climate change litigation, the prevalence of such lawsuits has spread worldwide, according to a press release.

This reflects an increasing willingness to use litigation as a tool to influence policy, according to the report, and human rights and science are playing an increasingly important role in these lawsuits.

Since 2015, the first cases of climate change litigation were recorded in Colombia, Indonesia, Norway, Pakistan and South Africa, according to the report, titled “Global trends in climate change litigation: 2019 snapshot.”

Yesterday, residents of Indonesia’s capital filed a new lawsuit against the government over the toxic levels of air pollution that regularly blanket the city. Fed up with what they say is worsening air pollution, a group of 31 concerned residents has sued President Joko Widodo, as well as the ministry of environment and forestry, ministry of health, and Jakarta’s governor.

There were 1,023 climate change cases in the US for the period of the research, followed by 94 in Australia and 53 in the UK.

Most of the litigation has targeted local and national governments, but companies have also been taken to court over failures to inform shareholders of the risks of climate change, or to incorporate climate change planning into decision making.

Both businesses and governments have been taken to court accused of failing to protect people from climate change, or contributing to the problem.

Outside the US, rulings have favored the fight against climate change 43% of the time, compared to 27% that hindered efforts. Others had no impact on existing policy or law.