Environmental Management7/25/2023 · Global

UN Environment Programme: Climate litigation expands as a tool for environmental accountability

According to UN Environment Programme’s review published on 25 July 2023, climate-related filings reached 2,180 across 65 jurisdictions by December 2022, compared with 884 cases in 2017 and 1,550 in 2020. According to UN Environment Programme, growing recourse to judicial and other adjudicatory bodies is helping reshape climate governance worldwide, with young people, women’s groups, local communities and Indigenous Peoples playing prominent roles.

Attachment — Image: UN Environment Programme

PDFSource report (PDF)

UN Environment Programme

Global policy context

According to UN Environment Programme, the review connects environmental accountability with UN General Assembly resolution A/RES/76/300, which recognises the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. According to UN Environment Programme, most cases reviewed establish tangible connections between climate change and human rights, underscoring the role of access to justice in environmental protection.

Economic & investment implications

The UN Environment Programme summary identifies businesses among the intended users of its account of litigation trends and legal issues, but provides no estimates of investment effects, employment impacts or the monetary cost of inaction.

Economy & Investment · data

GDP growth (annual %) — world and regions

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Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG), CC BY 4.0.

Key findings

According to UN Environment Programme, climate-related filings rose from 884 in 2017 to 2,180 by December 2022.
According to UN Environment Programme, the tally spans 65 jurisdictions and includes international and regional adjudicatory bodies.
According to UN Environment Programme, access to justice supports environmental rights and greater accountability in public institutions.

Research method

According to UN Environment Programme, the report updates its 2017 and 2020 reviews by surveying global climate-litigation trends and describing central issues addressed in cases. The supplied summary gives a December 2022 reporting cutoff but does not detail case-selection or classification procedures.

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