How to Win More Global Warming Lawsuits
Plaintiffs who sue governments and companies over climate change would have a higher success rate if they relied on the most recent science.
A 2018 heat wave caused havoc in Northern Europe, including by hurting shipping on a water-depleted Rhine.
Photographer: Maja Hitij/Getty ImagesThe fight against global warming is rapidly moving into the courtrooms. In the past few years, in landmark cases in the Netherlands, Germany and France, courts have agreed that state and corporate entities have a duty to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and demanded they adopt more aggressive policies. A Dutch court, for example, ordered the government to reduce emissions to 25% below 1990s levels, forcing it to go beyond its proposed goal of 17%.
These rulings mark an encouraging shift. Over the decades, plaintiffs have brought — and lost — more than a thousand major cases accusing governments and private companies of causing specific damages through climate emissions.