By: Dwight Links
The London School of Economics (LSE) Grantham Institute report on Global Trends in Climate Litigation 2026 states that in 2025, 249 new climate cases were filed.
This brings the total of climate-related litigation since 1986 to more than 3,600 cases, according to the institute.
The nation leading in climate litigation still remains the United States of America, as it has been the platform where most of the recorded cases have been identified.
“The United States remains the jurisdiction with the highest number of cases: 151 new cases were recorded in 2025, bringing the total to 2,078,” the report notes.
A growing parallel trend was also noted by the researchers in that these case filings correlate with another event of climate responsibility.
“Over three-quarters of these cases have been filed since 2015, the year of the Paris Agreement. Cases have been filed across 62 countries, up from just 17 countries a decade ago. In 2025, cases were newly filed in Grenada, Guatemala, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Singapore and Zambia,” the report outlines.
At the same time, the authors of the report – Joana Setzer, Catherine Higham and Tiffanie Chan – said the main indicators they use to maintain the scope of the reporting are based on the actual environmental aims of the cases themselves.
Cases outside of actually staying on the course of climate responsibility are not considered in the reporting.
“In this report series, we define climate change litigation as cases brought before judicial and quasi-judicial bodies that involve material issues of climate change science, policy or law. It is intentionally narrow in substance but broad on process,” the authors identified.
This is the definition that the Sabin Center uses in defining which cases to include in its Climate Litigation Database, which the LSE researchers take as the primary basis for their analysis.
According to the report, the coverage of climate litigation cases in the Global South has also expanded since the foundation of the Sabin Center’s Global Peer Review Network of Climate Litigation, but there are still challenges in identifying relevant cases that the researchers observed.
“Similarly, cases brought on other environmental grounds, which could nonetheless have a significant impact on emissions, fall outside the definition unless climate change is explicitly referenced,” the report says.
One example is when a challenge to a new coal mine or airport is brought on air pollution or noise grounds.
Another is a trade complaint such as an anti-dumping case with implications for the competitiveness of fossil fuel industries, could have a material effect on a country’s emissions profile without ever invoking arguments around climate change.
GOVERNMENTAL TRENDS
According to the institute, climate litigation is still a relatively novel phenomenon.
The legal arguments being advanced, that states bore enforceable obligations to act on climate change, that individual governments could be held responsible for their contribution to a global problem.
Moreover, that courts had a legitimate role in scrutinising climate targets, were characterised in the literature as “challenging many basic legal assumptions,” the researchers noted as they observed the developing trend.
The report identifies that climate litigation has matured into a recognised and increasingly consequential dimension of global climate governance.
Meaning it is now characterised by a growing body of judgements, an expanding number of courts engaging with shared legal norms, and a rising volume of cases that reflect the continued ambition of the climate movement and the legal consequences of inaction.
“We identify 215 cases filed against governments that have received a decision from an apex court since 2015. More than half of all decisions in these cases can be understood to have outcomes that are positive for climate action,” the authors observed.
In the report, climate change litigation has rapidly emerged as a pivotal element in shaping the global climate governance landscape.
“Once again, the global trends in climate change litigation report offers a comprehensive analysis of the growth, scope and implications of climate – and nature – cases worldwide,” said the director for General Legal Services at the European Central Bank, Chiara Zilioli.
Zilioli noted that “they reflect meticulous research, robust data and clear insights and guidance, making it a cornerstone for policymakers and legal practitioners navigating the complexities of climate- and nature-related risk.”
