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Since the early 2000s, the legal frameworks for combating climate change have increasingly been available through [[legislation]], and an increasing body of court cases have developed an international body of law connecting climate action to legal challenges, related to constitutional law, administrative law, private law, consumer protection law or human rights.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last1=King|last2=Mallett|first2=Wood Mallesons-Daisy|last3=Nagra|first3=Sati|title=Climate change litigation - what is it and what to expect? {{!}} Lexology|url=https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=03ba4171-3769-4b77-b355-c9cf63cccc24|access-date=2020-09-20|website=www.lexology.com|date=27 February 2020|language=en|archive-date=2021-04-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414060424/https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=03ba4171-3769-4b77-b355-c9cf63cccc24|url-status=live}}</ref> Many of the successful cases and approaches have focused on advancing the needs of [[climate justice]] and [[Youth climate movement|the youth climate movement]].{{cn|date=September 2024}} Since 2015, there has been a trend in the use of human rights arguments in climate lawsuits,<ref name="rights turn">{{cite journal |last1=Peel |first1=Jacqueline |last2=Osofsky |first2=Hari M. |title=A Rights Turn in Climate Change Litigation? |journal=Transnational Environmental Law |date=March 2018 |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=37–67 |doi=10.1017/S2047102517000292|s2cid=158786536 |doi-access=free }}</ref> in part due to the recognition of the [[right to a healthy environment]] in more jurisdictions and at the United Nations.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=de Vilchez |first1=Pau |last2=Savaresi |first2=Annalisa |date=2023-04-20 |title=The Right to a Healthy Environment and Climate Litigation: A Game Changer? |url=https://academic.oup.com/yielaw/article/32/1/3/6982625 |journal=Yearbook of International Environmental Law |language=en |volume=32 |issue=1 |pages=3–19 |doi=10.1093/yiel/yvac064 |issn=0965-1721 |hdl=1893/34872 |hdl-access=free |access-date=2023-07-04 |archive-date=2023-07-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230704123050/https://academic.oup.com/yielaw/article/32/1/3/6982625 |url-status=live }}</ref>
High-profile climate litigation cases brought against states include ''[[Asghar Leghari vs. Federation of Pakistan|Leghari v. Pakistan]]'',<ref name="Leghari">{{cite web |title=Leghari v. Federation of Pakistan |url=http://climatecasechart.com/non-us-case/ashgar-leghari-v-federation-of-pakistan/ |website=Climate Case Chart |publisher=Sabin Centre for Climate Change Law |access-date=2023-02-03 |archive-date=2023-02-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230203182045/http://climatecasechart.com/non-us-case/ashgar-leghari-v-federation-of-pakistan/ |url-status=live }}</ref> ''[[Juliana v. United States]]'' (both 2015), ''[[State of the Netherlands v. Urgenda Foundation|Urgenda v. The Netherlands]]'' (2019), and ''[[Neubauer v. Germany]]'' (2021),<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Beauregard |first1=Charles |last2=Carlson |first2=D'Arcy |last3=Robinson |first3=Stacy-ann |last4=Cobb |first4=Charles |last5=Patton |first5=Mykela |date=28 May 2021 |title=Climate justice and rights-based litigation in a post-Paris world |journal=Climate Policy |volume=21 |issue=5 |pages=652–665 |doi=10.1080/14693062.2020.1867047 |bibcode=2021CliPo..21..652B |issn=1469-3062 |s2cid=233731449}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Marris |first1=Emma |date=3 November 2018 |title=US Supreme Court allows historic kids' climate lawsuit to go forward |language=en |pages=163–164 |journal=Nature |volume=563 |issue=7730 |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-07214-2/ |access-date=7 November 2021 |doi=10.1038/d41586-018-07214-2 |pmid=30401851 |bibcode=2018Natur.563..163M |s2cid=53234042 |archive-date=9 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211109163643/https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-07214-2 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Viglione |first1=Giuliana |date=28 February 2020 |title=Climate lawsuits are breaking new legal ground to protect the planet |language=en |pages=184–185 |journal=Nature |volume=579 |issue=7798 |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00175-5/ |access-date=7 November 2021 |doi=10.1038/d41586-020-00175-5 |pmid=32157222 |bibcode=2020Natur.579..184V |s2cid=212654628 |archive-date=8 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211108111813/https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00175-5/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Constitutional complaints against the Federal Climate Change Act partially successful |url=https://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/SharedDocs/Pressemitteilungen/EN/2021/bvg21-031.html |website=www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de |publisher=Bundesverfassungsgericht |access-date=2023-02-03 |archive-date=2023-02-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230203182056/https://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/SharedDocs/Pressemitteilungen/EN/2021/bvg21-031.html |url-status=live }}</ref> while ''[[Milieudefensie v Royal Dutch Shell]]'' (2021) is the highest-profile case against a corporation to date.<ref>{{cite web |title=Shell: Netherlands court orders oil giant to cut emissions |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-57257982 |website=BBC News |date=26 May 2021 |access-date=3 February 2023 |archive-date=19 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230919210502/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-57257982 |url-status=live }}</ref> Investor-owned coal, oil, and gas corporations could be legally and morally liable for climate-related human rights violations, even though political decisions could prevent them from engaging in such violations.<ref>{{cite web |title=Science Hub for Climate Litigation {{!}} Union of Concerned Scientists |url=https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/science-hub-climate-litigation |access-date=7 November 2021 |website=www.ucsusa.org |language=en |archive-date=7 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211107172631/https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/science-hub-climate-litigation |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=12 December 2020 |title=As South Africa clings to coal, a struggle for the right to breathe |url=https://grist.org/justice/as-south-africa-clings-to-coal-a-struggle-for-the-right-to-breathe/ |access-date=7 November 2021 |website=Grist |language=en-us |archive-date=7 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211107172632/https://grist.org/justice/as-south-africa-clings-to-coal-a-struggle-for-the-right-to-breathe/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Litigations are often carried out via collective pooling of effort and resources such as via organizations like [[Greenpeace]], such as Greenpeace Poland which sued a coal utility<ref>{{cite web |date=29 November 2018 |title=Greenpeace threatens to sue coal utility in Poland |url=https://www.climatechangenews.com/2018/11/29/greenpeace-threatens-sue-coal-utility-poland/ |access-date=7 November 2021 |website=Climate Home News |language=en |archive-date=7 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211107172633/https://www.climatechangenews.com/2018/11/29/greenpeace-threatens-sue-coal-utility-poland/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and Greenpeace Germany which sued a car manufacturer.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2021-11-09 |title=Greenpeace Germany sues Volkswagen over carbon emissions targets |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/business/cop/greenpeace-germany-sues-volkswagen-over-carbon-emissions-targets-2021-11-09/ |access-date=2022-08-22 |archive-date=2022-08-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220822233539/https://www.reuters.com/business/cop/greenpeace-germany-sues-volkswagen-over-carbon-emissions-targets-2021-11-09/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
There is a growing trend of activist cases successfully being won in global courts.<ref name="Greenpeace" /><ref name=":12" /><ref name="CPI" /> The 2017 UN Litigation Report identified 884 cases in 24 countries, including 654 cases in the United States and 230 cases in all other countries combined. As of July 1, 2020, the number of cases has almost doubled to at least 1,550 climate change cases filed in 38 countries (39 including the courts of the European Union), with approximately 1,200 cases filed in the US and over 350 filed in all other countries combined.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Global Climate Litigation Report: 2020 Status Review|url=https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/34818/GCLR.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y|url-status=live|website=UN environment programme.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126145143/https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/34818/GCLR.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |archive-date=2021-01-26 }}</ref> By December 2022, the number had grown to 2,180, including 1,522 in the U.S.<ref name=UNEP_2023>{{cite web |author1=United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law |title=Global Climate Litigation Report / 2023 Status Review |url=https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/43008/global_climate_litigation_report_2023.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230729044423/https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/43008/global_climate_litigation_report_2023.pdf |archive-date=29 July 2023 |page=XIV |date=2023 |url-status=live}}</ref> The number of litigation cases is expected to continue rising in the 2020s.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kaminski |first1=Isabella |title=Why 2023 will be a watershed year for climate litigation |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/04/why-2023-will-be-a-watershed-year-for-climate-litigation |website=The Guardian |date=4 January 2023 |access-date=3 February 2023 |archive-date=3 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230203182045/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/04/why-2023-will-be-a-watershed-year-for-climate-litigation |url-status=live }}</ref>
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