There could be a sharp increase in strategic climate change litigation against European businesses and governments in 2022 according to Clyde & Co.
Clyde & Co has said it predicts that more rights-based strategic cases will be brought against companies in 2022. These lawsuits will add to the pressure that traded companies in high-emitting sectors are already facing from institutional investors, ratings agencies and other stakeholders.
Legal cases based on climate change-related human rights violations have already been successful in Europe. They have already prompted change in government policy in the Netherlands and Germany.
This has inspired a ‘wave of new cases’ across Europe, with many brought against state and regional governments by young people on behalf of the next generation.
The most ambitious to date is the Agostinho case in the European Court of Human Rights. It is seeking an order that Portugal and 32 other countries make more rapid emissions cuts. The court has fast-tracked the case and the hearing could take place in 2022.
Meanwhile, Greenpeace and environmental NGO Deutsche Umwelthilfe has gone to court in Germany, seeking to force VW, BMW and Daimler/Mercedes to bring forward their switch to purely electric car production, and curb their sales of internal combustion engine cars in the meantime. M