Corporate climate litigation in Europe: scaffolding from state obligations and the rise of polluter-pays

Journal

Lewis & Clark Law Review, Vol. 30, Issue 2 (2026)

Authors

Setzer J*, Koistinen N*, Higham C*, Biasetton L

*The starred authors are contributors from the Grantham Research Institute

Abstract

Over the last decade, Europe has been the crucible of path-defining climate cases. Across the region, courts have been asked to define the limits of public and private responsibility. This Essay argues that corporate climate litigation in Europe has developed along two intersecting trajectories that together define an emerging framework of climate accountability. The first extends publiclaw standards to corporations, translating human rights and carbon-budget principles into private-law duties of care, due diligence, and disclosure that reach across entire value chains. The second trajectory sees the emergence of polluter-pays litigation, which seeks to proportionate damages and adaptation costs from major emitters, testing how attribution science and emissions accounting can ground financial responsibility for climate harm. This Essay situates corporate climate litigation in Europe within a broader trend toward the financialization of climate accountability. Drawing on leading and pending cases across Europe, it identifies emerging principles alongside persistent enforcement challenges linked to insolvency, insurance, and cross-border jurisdiction. This Essay concludes that Europe is building a provisional but concrete framework for corporate climate responsibility and financial redress. Understanding the feedback loops between public-law scaffolds, private-law duties, and polluter-pays mechanisms helps clarify both the promise and the limits of Europe’s multi-scalar model of climate accountability/