The climate crisis is an era-defining global phenomenon that has the potential to cause widespread ecological destruction, irreversibly destroy habitats, and threaten life on Earth if global solutions and comprehensive policies are not implemented. At present, we have seen unprecedented levels of global warming that have already caused mass environmental damage, resulting in millions of people forcibly displaced from their homes.
The science is clear: human activities have caused approximately 1.0°C of global warming, and the world remains on course to exceed the Paris Agreement’s temperature thresholds of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels unless action is taken. In the last 200 years, human activity has led to the exponential increase in greenhouse gas emissions, causing global average temperatures to rise, resulting in extreme heat, drought, wildfires, record ocean temperatures, and the melting of glaciers.
These events have a significant impact on all ecosystems and pose a serious threat to global society. From the Arctic to the Mediterranean, iced-capped mountain ranges to low-lying regions, climate change is destroying our world as we know it, and it will continue on a path of permanent destruction until effective and sustainable solutions are actioned.
According to the World Meteorological Organisation’s April 2026 report, Europe is the world’s fastest warming continent, and Ireland has experienced this firsthand. Ireland's climate is changing with temperatures steadily increasing every year and heat waves becoming more common and more extreme. Climate change not only relates to rising temperatures but also changes in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather and climate events.
Ireland has seen an increase in average annual rainfall, a reduction in frost and snow, sea temperatures are increasing as well as sea levels, which pose severe threats to Ireland’s coast. All major cities in Ireland are coastal, and a rise in sea levels will have major economic, social, and environmental impacts. The latest climate projections show that these climate trends will continue and intensify over the coming years.
“Climate litigation alone will not solve the climate crisis; political will, international cooperation, and global change are essential.”
Climate change litigation is somewhat of a recent development, with the majority of cases taking place in the last decade. Climate change litigation has taken place in multiple jurisdictions around the world and has resulted in national policy reform by utilising existing legal pathways. Climate change litigation, put simply, is the process of holding states, corporations, organisations, and individuals accountable for climate-related harms.
Constitutional law, administrative law, corporate law, and human rights law have all been invoked in climate change cases, and human rights law is especially prominent as environmental degradation limits the full enjoyment of human rights. States have been found guilty of human rights violations due to their failure to implement adequate climate policies, ambitious targets, and tangible action.
Climate litigation can also be viewed as a political strategy that holds states accountable and responsible for their actions. To date, thousands of climate litigation cases have had major impacts on climate action, and cases have been heard at both domestic and international courts. Climate litigation is an emerging field and is cementing itself as a useful, effective, and influential method of addressing climate change.
In 2024, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights gave a landmark decision in the KlimaSeniorinnen case by finding that states are legally obliged to implement robust and sustainable climate policies. Switzerland was found to have violated the European Convention of Human Rights, specifically Articles 2, the right to life, and 8, private and family life. The case was brought by an elderly women's association named KlimaSeniorinnen and four individual applicants who argued that rising temperatures and more frequent and intense heatwaves were having negative impacts on their health.
The Grand Chamber ruled in their favour and set a precedent that climate change falls within the scope of the ECHR. This ruling forced Switzerland to immediately implement more comprehensive and effective climate policies to prevent further human rights violations. ECtHR judge Anna Adamska-Gallant referred to the KlimaSeniorinnen case as perhaps the most important case at the ECtHR. Adamska-Gallant stated that the full impact of this judgement will continue to be felt far into future cases, adding, ‘The Court underlined that human rights have no time limitations and therefore they are applicable to future generations’. 46 sovereign states are party to the ECHR, making the positive verdict have far-reaching effects.
“Climate litigation is cementing itself as a useful, effective, and influential method of addressing climate change.”
A wide range of successful climate litigation cases have been heard in a number of domestic courts. Urgenda Foundation v the State of the Netherlands is a 2019 climate litigation case that was held at the Dutch Supreme Court. The Dutch Supreme Court found the Dutch government’s ineffective policies, lack of ambition, and inaction to reduce greenhouse emissions were a violation of Dutch national law and EU law. This case cemented the fact that governments have a duty to implement positive, sustainable, and extensive action.
The Urgenda case ruling inspired similar cases in Ireland, Belgium, France, Germany, the UK, and New Zealand. International climate treaties such as the Paris Agreement, Kyoto Convention, and the Aarhus Protocol also aid in climate litigation. These international agreements hold states legally accountable to uphold the contents of the agreement and be subject to investigations by supranational bodies such as the International Court of Justice.
Due to a lack of resources, access to efficient remedies, and legal education, the majority of climate litigation takes place in the global north. This has drawn criticism for reinforcing a global north bias and neglecting to help those most vulnerable to climate change. The effectiveness of climate litigation has also been questioned due to the fundamental fact that litigation happens only after the harm has already been committed.
Climate litigation can also be a slow process, very costly, and result in insufficient remedies. Due to the urgency of implementing climate policies, the slow litigation process has made many question how efficient of a pathway it is towards climate justice. Monetary reparations, policy development, and regulatory mechanisms are essential in climate justice; however, preventive measures are the most sustainable solution.
Climate litigation alone will not solve the climate crisis; political will, international cooperation, and global change are essential for global climate justice. However, successful climate litigation cases at both national and international courts have proven that positive strides are taking place in aiding to solve the climate crisis.
“Preventive measures are the most sustainable solution.”
Lucy O'Dea is a Human Rights Law student at the University of Galway. As part of the STAND x Human Rights Center collaboration, she contributes thoughtful writing on a range of human rights related issues, bringing academic insight and a strong commitment to justice, equality, and social change to her work.
