Global Trends in Climate Litigation 2023: report launch

Date:: 29 June 2023, 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm
Speaker:: Sophie Marjanac, Prof. Lauge Poulsen, Dr. Birsha Ohdedar, Dr. Maria Antonia Tigre, Catherine Higham, Dr. Joana Setzer, Laura Ford, Prof. Elizabeth Robinson
Venue:: Auditorium, Centre Building, LSE and online

Placards designed by Friends of the Earth displaying messages from young people about their hopes for the future, outside the High Court in London in June 2022 which was hearing the case R (oao Friends of the Earth et al.) v. Secretary of State for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy “Net Zero Challenge”. © Friends of the Earth (England, Wales and Northern Ireland).

Download the presentation slides from this event

This event marked the launch of the Grantham Research Institute’s 2023 Global Trends in Climate Change Litigation report, an annual series now in its fifth year. This influential report presents an overview of climate litigation, highlighting recent developments and future trends. The report is widely read and cited by civil society organisations, policymakers, the legal community, judges, financiers, scholars and media all around the world.

Over the past year, the climate litigation field has seen novel case strategies deployed against a broad array of government and corporate actors. Notable examples in the private sector include a world-first case brought against Shell’s Board of Directors, as well as against a commercial bank. Three new cases have also been brought against Russia, Finland and Sweden, to challenge the inadequacy of their national climate plans more Increasingly a broad range of actors is compelled to understand how the litigation landscape is evolving and what risks litigation poses to their activities in the public and private spheres.

The event was chaired by the Grantham Research Institute’s Director, Professor Elizabeth Robinson, and began with a short presentation from authors Joana Setzer and Catherine Higham on the findings of the 2023 Global Trends in Climate Change Litigation report. The presentation was followed by a panel discussion, with five distinguished experts in the field: Birsha Ohdedar (SOAS), Lauge Poulsen (UCL), Maria Antonia Tigre (Columbia Law School), Laura Ford (DLA Piper) and Sophie Marjanac (ClientEarth).

Chair

Prof. Elizabeth Robinson (@EJZRobinson66) is the Director of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.

Speakers

Dr. Joana Setzer (@JoanaSetzer) is an Assistant Professorial Research Fellow at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment and leads the Climate Change Laws of the World project.

Catherine Higham (@CatherineHigha3) is a Policy Fellow at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment and coordinates the Climate Change Laws of the World Project.

Dr. Birsha Ohdedar (@birsha_o) is a Lecturer in Climate Change and Environmental Law and the Deputy Director of the Law, Environment and Development Centre at SOAS, University of London.