" Climate change litigation risk growing in UK", 25 Feb 2021

The total number of climate change actions issued globally almost doubled between 2017 and 2020, according to data from the London School of Economics...

Although the UK has not yet seen the number of cases related to climate change witnessed in some other jurisdictions, climate change is becoming an ever more pressing item on governmental and corporate agendas and it is increasingly important that all businesses understand and take steps to mitigate the risks of litigation.

Climate change litigation covers a broad range of actions that result from climate-related issues, mitigation and risks. Claimants, including a growing number of activist non-profit organisations, are seeing the potential for litigation to drive an increase in climate change mitigation activity, across a range of claim types. The risks are no longer limited to governments and fossil fuel companies: all businesses must be aware of the risks...

Historically, climate change litigation has been dominated by claims against companies involved in the extraction, refinement and sale of fossil fuels. Common causes of action have included claims of nuisance, negligence, fraud and non-disclosure, and have tended to be based on arguments that the activities of these companies directly relate to emissions associated with climate change. These companies remain the targets of litigation: there are currently at least 40 ongoing climate cases worldwide against the biggest fossil fuel companies - the so-called 'Carbon Majors' - including one complaint in the UK.

In recent years, there have been an increasing number of claims based on inconsistencies between discourse and action on climate change, known as 'greenwashing'...