Climate Change Litigation

_{^{The Sabin Center’s Climate Change Litigation program tracks, analyzes, and helps shape the rapidly evolving field of climate litigation in the United States and around the world. We maintain the Climate Litigation Database and coordinate the Peer Review Network of Global Climate Litigation, providing open-access information on cases and emerging trends.}}

Our research examines how courts and tribunals are addressing mitigation, adaptation, corporate accountability, climate damages and reparations, human and constitutional rights, permitting and environmental assessment, and the implementation of climate obligations. The Center also engages directly with courts through amicus briefs and other submissions and convenes researchers and practitioners to assess the development and impact of climate litigation.

Featured Legal Tool & Project

The Climate Litigation Database

^{The Climate Litigation Database tracks climate cases from around the world. It provides researchers, policymakers, advocates, and the public with a comprehensive resource for understanding how courts and legal systems are shaping responses to climate change.}

Peer Review Network

^{The Peer Review Network includes practitioners and scholars from around the world who can review the Sabin Center’s}^{Climate Litigation Database}^{and ensure that it is comprehensive and up to date.}

Research

The ICJ’s Advisory Opinion on Climate Change, edited by Maria Antonia Tigre, Maxim Bönnemann & Antoine De Spiegeleir (2025):

Brazil and Climate Justice: Pioneering Climate Litigation for a Global Cause, edited by Maria Antonia Tigre, Armando Rocha & Délton Winter de Carvalho (2025):

The Role of Advisory Opinions in International Law in the Context of the Climate Crisis, edited by Maria Antonia Tigre & Armando Rocha (2025)

Climate Litigation and Vulnerabilities: Global South Perspectives, edited by Maria Antonia Tigre, Melanie Jean Murcott & Susan Ann Samuel (2025)

The Right of Access to Justice, by Maria Antonia Tigre, in Climate Justice and Human Rights: Legal Standards and Tools from the Inter-American Court’s Advisory Opinion 32/25 (2025):

The Inter-American Human Rights System and Climate Litigation, by Maria Antonia Tigre & Thalia Viveros-Uehara, in Climate Change Before International Courts: A Comparative Study (2025)

Trends in Human Rights Law-Making: The Implications of ‘Norming’ Climate Rights, by Maria Antonia Tigre & Katherine Quinn, in Human Rights and Investment Law for Climate Change (2025)

Climate Litigation and Democracy in the Global South, by Sam Bookman, Alister Doyle, Christina Eckes, Catherine Hall, Kate McKenzie, Abel Shibu Simon, Maria Antonia Tigre & Lennart Wegener, in Let the Courts Decide? The Potential and Limitations of Climate Litigation from a Democracy Perspective (2025)

The Transformation of European Climate Litigation, edited by Maxim Bönnemann & Maria Antonia Tigre (2024)

Beyond Protest: How Legal Actions Drive Climate Justice, by Lea Main-Klingst, Hermann E. Ott & Maria Antonia Tigre, in The Routledge Handbook of Grassroots Climate Activism (2024):

Common but Differentiated Constitutionalisms: Does ‘Environmental Constitutionalism’ Offer Realistic Policy Options for Improving UN Environmental Law and Governance?, by Erin Daly, Maria Antonia Tigre & Natalia Urzola, in Constitutionalism and Transnational Governance Failures (2024)

The Right to a Healthy Environment in Latin America and the Caribbean: Compliance through the Inter-American System and the Escazú Agreement, by Maria Antonia Tigre, in International Courts Versus Non-Compliance Mechanisms: Comparative Advantages in Strengthening Treaty Implementation (2024)

Reports and White Papers

Climate Change in the Courts: A 2025 Retrospective, by Maria Antonia Tigre & Margaret Barry (Dec. 2025):

Advisory Opinion on Climate Change: Summary of Written Observations Submitted to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (Part 1), edited by Maria Antonia Tigre (2024)

ITLOS Advisory Opinion on Climate Change: Summary of Briefs and Statements Submitted to the Tribunal, edited by Maria Antonia Tigre & Korey Silverman-Roati (2023)

Status Report on Principles of International and Human Rights Law Relevant to Climate Change, by Katelyn Horne, Maria Antonia Tigre & Michael Gerrard (2023)

U.S. Climate Litigation During the Biden Years, by Margaret Barry (November 2025)

Climate Litigation Report 2025 — Climate Change in the Courtroom: Trends, Impacts and Emerging Lessons (UNEP), by Maria Antonia Tigre & Margaret Barry (2025)

Climate Change in the Courts: A 2024 Retrospective, by Maria Antonia Tigre & Margaret Barry (January 2025)

Climate Litigation in the Global South: Mapping Report, by Maria Antonia Tigre (July 2024)

Climate Change in the Courts: A 2023 Retrospective, by Maria Antonia Tigre & Margaret Barry (December 2023)

Global Climate Litigation Report: 2023 Status Review (UNEP), by Michael Burger & Maria Antonia Tigre (2023)

Climate Litigation in Latin America: Is the region quietly leading a regional revolution?, 14(1) J. Hum. Rts. & Envt. 67–93 (2023), by Maria Antonia Tigre, Natalia Urzola and Alexandra Goodman

Status Report on Principles of International and Human Rights Law Relevant to Climate Change, by Maria Antonia Tigre, Katelyn Horne and Michael Gerrard (2023)

Just Transition Litigation in Latin America: An Initial Categorization of Climate Litigation Cases Amid the Energy Transition, by Maria Antonia Tigre, Lorena Zenteno, Marlies Hesselman, Natalia Urzola, Pedro Cisterna-Gaete, and Riccardo Luporini (January 2023)

Articles

From Chainsaws to Courtrooms: Corporate Climate Litigation and Deforestation in Brazil, by Maria Antonia Tigre & Mariana Barbosa Cirne, 30 Lewis & Clark L. Rev. 407 (2026)

Loss and Damage and State Responsibility in the Paris Era: Parallel Avenues to Address the Adverse Effects of Climate Change, by Armando Rocha, Maria Antonia Tigre & Miriam Cohen, Climate Law (published Aug. 21, 2026)

“Small” Voices, Big Wins: Analyzing Remedies in Children’s Climate Cases, by Maria Antonia Tigre, 82 Wash. & Lee L. Rev. 1009 (2025):

It Is (Finally) Time for an Advisory Opinion on Climate Change: Challenges and Opportunities on a Trio of Initiatives, by Maria Antonia Tigre, 17 Charleston L. Rev. 623 (2023)

International Recognition of the Right to a Healthy Environment: What Is the Added Value for Latin America and the Caribbean?, by Maria Antonia Tigre, 117 AJIL Unbound 184 (2023)

Human Rights and Climate Change for Climate Litigation in Brazil and Beyond: An Analysis of the Climate Fund Decision, by Maria Antonia Tigre & Joana Setzer, 54(4) Geo. J. Int’l L. 593 (2023)

Beyond the North-South Divide: Litigation’s Role in Resolving Climate Change Loss and Damage Claims, by Maria Antonia Tigre & Margaretha Wewerinke-Singh, RECIEL (2023)

International Blog Series

Highlighted Blog Posts

Scrutinizing the Achievement of Climate Targets, Part II: Emerging Trends and Challenges in Implementation Litigation, by Joe Udell & Filippo Fantozzi (Sept. 29, 2026):

Scrutinizing the Achievement of Climate Targets, Part I: The Widening Reach of Implementation Litigation, by Joe Udell & Filippo Fantozzi (Sept. 28, 2026)

New Zealand Legislates Away Climate Tort, Part II: International Climate Obligations and Access to Justice, by Maria Antonia Tigre (Aug. 28, 2026)

New Zealand Legislates Away Climate Tort, Part I: Smith v Fonterra and the Global Backlash Against Climate Litigation, by Maria Antonia Tigre (Aug. 27, 2026)

Recognizing Scope 3, Reserving the Remedy: The Paris Court’s TotalEnergies Judgment, by Maria Antonia Tigre (Aug. 26, 2026)

Climate Change in the High Court of Australia: Will a Coal Mine’s Contribution to Climate Change Cause Likely Environmental Impacts “in the Locality”?, by Nick Scott, Harj Narulla, Nicholas Young, Michael Burger, Harro van Asselt, Jessica Wentz & Maria Antonia Tigre (May 6, 2026)

What Lliuya v. RWE Means for Climate Change Loss and Damage Claims, by Maxim Bönnemann & Maria Antonia Tigre (June 19, 2025)

A Landmark Climate Ruling from Europe: The EFTA Court Declares Scope 3 Emissions Must Be Assessed Before Oil Project Approvals, by Maria Antonia Tigre & Armando Rocha (May 23, 2025)

You can find all climate litigation-related research and publications here and all Global Climate Law research and publications can be found here.

You can find all Climate Change Litigation-related blog posts and series here.