Climate litigation. A global phenomenon in legal climate protection
Abstract
The aim of the article is to present the global phenomenon of climate litigation, including the definition and typology of such disputes and their basic characteristics. This term is usually understood as cases before judicial and quasi-judicial bodies in which a substantial factual or legal issue is raised concerning climate change mitigation, climate change adaptation or climate change science. The number of litigation so understood is steadily increasing (in 2022 there were 2180 cases in 65 jurisdictions). This is already a global phenomenon, reportable on six continents, manifested in disputes at international, regional and national levels. It is therefore possible to propose a typol-
ogy of these into climate litigation in 1) international, 2) regional and 3) national fora. A derivative of the distinguishing criterion of the competent court (forum) is usually the applicable law to which the dispute relates (international, created by regional organisations, or domestic law). Climate litigation is not a dispute exclusively about climate law. For climate protection, norms of
different areas of law are used in these disputes.
Keywords:
climate litigation, climate law, climate change mitigation and adaptationReferences
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