If at first you don't succeed: suing corporations for climate change

Ganguly, Geetanjali, Setzer, Joana ORCID: 0000-0002-7705-7684 and Heyvaert, Veerle ORCID: 0000-0002-7615-0318 (2018) If at first you don't succeed: suing corporations for climate change. Oxford Journal of Legal Studies. ISSN 0143-6503

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Abstract

This paper discusses the history and the future prospects of private climate litigation, which seeks to hold private entities legally accountable for climate change-related damage or threats of damage. It argues that, following failed attempts to clear judicial thresholds with regard to standing, proof of harm and causation, a new wave of private climate change lawsuits can be identified, and it is by no means doomed to failure. This is because climate change litigation takes place in a rapidly evolving scientific, discursive and constitutional context, which generates new opportunities for judges to rethink the interpretation of existing legal and evidentiary requirements and apply them in a way that will enhance the accountability of major private carbon producers. Moreover, even unsuccessful cases can contribute to articulating climate change as a legal and financial risk, which may help to guide climate change responsive adjudication in the longer term.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://academic.oup.com/ojls
Additional Information:	© 2018 Oxford University Press
Divisions:	Law
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GE Environmental Sciences K Law > K Law (General)
Date Deposited:	02 Aug 2018 15:42
Last Modified:	12 Mar 2025 03:15
Funders:	Economic and Social Research Council
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/89702

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