The Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment published its Global Trends in Climate Change Litigation: 2026 Snapshot (June 2026). Now in its ninth edition, the report draws on the Sabin Center’s Climate Litigation Database to analyse developments in this field across 62 countries, focusing on cases filed and decided in 2025.
Human Level’s Take:
- Climate litigation is expanding, with more than 3,600 climate cases filed across 62 countries, up from just 17 cases a decade ago.
- As litigation grows, it is maturing on two fronts: clearer state obligations and advances in corporate accountability. State obligation to act on climate change is no longer a contested legal argument and is increasingly reinforced across domestic, regional and international courts.
- For companies, climate litigation is reaching further into corporate activity - across sustainability claims, transition infrastructure and supply chains. In this context, the quality and effectiveness of companies’ due diligence processes are becoming increasingly important.
- Cross-border legal infrastructure is also consolidating, with European NGOs bringing cases in the home jurisdictions of multinational companies on behalf of Global South communities, using human rights due diligence (HRDD) frameworks as the legal vehicle.
- Just transition cases are one of the fastest-growing areas of climate litigation. The Business and Human Rights Centre documents 95 such cases filed globally since 2009, 77% of which have been filed since 2018. Brought by workers, Indigenous Peoples and frontline communities harmed by renewable energy and transition mineral projects, just transition cases documented in the report have had practical consequences for businesses, including project delays, court-mandated modifications, financial losses and cancelled climate projects.
Some key takeaways:
- Climate litigation is on the rise and it’s going global: More than 3,600 climate litigation cases have now been filed in courts across 62 countries, up from 17 in 2015 and with 249 new cases filed in 2025 alone. The United States remains the jurisdiction with the highest number of cases, followed by Brazil, Australia and the United Kingdom. Three major advisory opinions from international courts issued between 2024 and 2025 are already being cited in domestic courtrooms worldwide, consolidating state obligations to act on climate change as a matter of legal duty. The range of actors and geographies involved also continues to widen, with the first climate litigation filings recorded in Grenada, Guatemala, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Singapore and Zambia in 2025. Against this backdrop, regulatory human rights due diligence requirements are serving as a vehicle for increased trans-boundary just transition litigation, with NGOs and Global South communities working together to advance climate and environmental justice claims in companies’ home jurisdictions.
- The profile of corporate cases and defendants is diversifying: In 2025, more than 50 strategic cases were filed against companies spanning a wide range of industries, bringing the total to 434 since 2015. In line with this growth, the circle of corporate defendants is broadening beyond fossil fuel producers to include State-owned enterprises, financial institutions, real estate companies and consumer goods firms. Climate litigation is also reaching further into corporate activity than ever before - across supply chains, financial institutions, transition infrastructure and sustainability claims. Climate-washing cases remain the most common type of corporate cases, with over 65% of decided cases resolved in claimants' favour. However, the pace of new filings of this type is slowing, as attention shifts from sustainability claims toward cases addressing companies’ broader failure to act on climate risks.
- The just transition emerges as a new theme: Within the expansion of climate litigation, just transition cases stand out as one of the fastest-growing categories. The report cites research by the Business and Human Rights Centre, which documents 95 such cases filed globally since 2009, 77% of which have been filed since 2018. Brought by workers, Indigenous Peoples and frontline communities harmed by renewable energy or transition mineral projects, alleged harms include environmental degradation (77% of cases), water access impacts (80%) and violations of the right to Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) (55%). Critical mineral supply chains are flagged as a particular area of concern in this area, with more than half of land areas most critical for transition mineral extraction overlapping with the territories of Indigenous communities, smallholder farmers and rural populations whose rights are frequently inadequately protected in national legal frameworks. The report underscores that just transition cases are distinct from anti-climate litigation, with claimants typically sharing the goal of addressing climate change but contesting the specific way the transition is being implemented. The resulting practical consequences of such cases can include project delays, court-mandated modifications, financial losses and cancelled climate projects.
