Climate change cases in court, March 2017

There has been a huge increase in action taken by civil society climate protestors and NGOs, who appeal to the law and the courts for the purpose of making state and private actors responsible for continuing with activities that damage the climate. The map shows that these are mainly taking place in the societies of developed countries (more than 90%) and the United States but also, to a lesser extent, in Colombia, South Africa, Nigeria, Pakistan, India, and the Philippines. For example, in December 2018, a collective of four NGOs claiming allegiance to the movement for climate justice, protection of the environment, and international solidarity, launched proceedings to prosecute the French state for its lack of climate action (the petition “L’Affaire du Siècle” [the Case of the Century] was supported by over two million signatories).