Climate Litigation Lessons from Brazil

Date:: 24 September 2025, 10:40 am - 12:00 pm
Venue:: Columbia Law School, 435 W. 116 St., New York, NY 10027 | Room: Jerome Greene Hall 107 and online

Aerial shot of the contrast between agricultural and forested land in Rio Branco, Brazil. Photo: Kate Evans, Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR)/Flickr.

Please note that the times quoted for this event will be local New York time.

Co-hosted by Cornerstone Climate and Mishcon Purpose, Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School and Grantham Research Institute at the LSE.

Brazil is now one of the world’s most dynamic laboratories for climate litigation. As of August 2025, at least 137 climate cases have been filed—most since 2020—placing Brazil third globally by volume and second only to the US for cases reaching apex courts. The pace has been matched by legal innovation: in 2022, Brazil’s Federal Supreme Court recognised the Paris Agreement as a human-rights treaty, and approximately 63% of climate cases that reached Brazil’s supreme courts have seen favourable outcomes (12 of 19). Public authorities—including the Federal Prosecutor’s Office (MPF) and Brazil’s Federal Environmental Agency IBAMA—have launched 30+ actions seeking climate damages tied to Amazon deforestation, signalling a strategic turn toward compensation and restoration. Courts are beginning to affirm liability for climate harm, with landmark 2024 rulings ordering climate-damage payments (equivalent to almost USD 2 million) linked to CO₂ from illegal deforestation.

This NY Climate Week session unpacks Brazil’s rise as a hub for global climate litigation—from procedural advances (participation, transparency, access to justice) to cutting-edge tort and public-law strategies—drawing lessons that can travel to other jurisdictions.

The event will also feature the book launch of Brazil and Climate Justice: Pioneering Climate Litigation for a Global Cause (eds. Maria Antonia Tigre, Armando Rocha, Délton Winter de Carvalho)—the first comprehensive, English-language volume on Brazilian climate litigation, with contributions from 28 Brazilian scholars.

Speaker(s):

Dr Maria Antonia Tigre (Director of Global Climate Litigation, Sabin Center, Columbia Law School)
Dr Joana Setzer (Associate Professor, Grantham Research Institute, LSE)
Gabriel Mantelli (Brazilian lawyer; Senior Project Consultant, LACLIMA; Executive Director, Instituto Ação Climática; PhD Candidate, USP)
Mariana Cirne, Instituto Brasileiro de Ensino, Desenvolvimento e Pesquisa
Chair: Nina Pindham (Barrister, Cornerstone Climate)