ISBN: 978-91-87379-77-2
Year: 2020

Author: Kristina Forsbacka
Editor: Ruben Henriksson

Climate litigation is increasingly being admitted in courts and this development is likely to continue. The scientific evidence on climate change and its adverse effects are being considered common ground and generally recognised by the courts. These litigations, reinforced by science, indicate that the right to a healthy climate is a human right and, consequently, climate policy can be enforced through legal action. With the potential to reshape the way the world thinks about climate policy, this development therefore needs to be studied further. While the claims brought forward to date have had varying degrees of success, we have seen some successful climate cases that have received great attention among the public.
The purpose of the study is a better understanding of how, and if, climate litigation can be used to tackle climate change alongside common challenges and potential gains and to identify a common sense of ways forward, potentially helping others to identify new routes to tackle climate change.