Climate Litigation as Strategic Litigation

January 2025
Citation:
55
ELR __ (Preview)
Issue
1
Author
Maria E. Lessa

What is climate litigation? Widely accepted definitions suggest it is any litigation pertaining directly or indirectly to climate change, which encompasses both strategic and routine litigation. Building on this framework, previous empirical assessments have found that climate litigation has not prompted a climate-oriented jurisprudence. However, empirical evidence suggests that strategic litigation—and not routine litigation—has contributed to development of a climate-oriented jurisprudence in jurisdictions across the globe. The different court receptiveness and variations in plaintiff behavior in strategic and routine litigation shed light on a distinctive framing for study: climate litigation as strategic litigation. While some commentators have criticized the disproportionate focus on “the tip of the iceberg,” this emphasis is perhaps better described as a deliberate choice rather than a failure to spot the entire iceberg.

Maria E. Lessa holds an LL.B. from the University of São Paulo in Brazil.