Climate change litigation against corporations: legality and effectiveness

The tide of civil law based climate change litigation against corporations is rising. But to what extent does tort law offer possibilities to regulate corporate climate change policies? In this CECS lecture Elbert de Jong, renowned Professor of Private Law from Utrecht University, will address this question in detail and also discuss if national tort law after all is an effective instrument to fight climate change.

Climate change litigation is expected against, among others, aviation companies, oil and gas companies, energy companies, car manufacturers, financial institutions, pension funds and insurers. In academic literature, consensus is growing that, as long as climate change is not adequately addressed, these cases are only the beginning of a development where national civil law is put forward to hold corporations accountable and liable for climate change. But to what extent tort law does (and maybe also: should) offer possibilities to regulate corporate climate change policies? And what do we know about the effectiveness of climate change litigation?