Climate Litigation in the United Kingdom

This chapter considers the growth and potential of climate change litigation in the United Kingdom. As of 2019, the United Kingdom has the third most recorded ‘climate litigation’ cases in the world. However, because of the lack of ‘high profile’ cases, there is a gap in literature analysing climate litigation in the United Kingdom. In this chapter, we trace the history of climate litigation in the United Kingdom and analyse emerging trends of litigation in the UK. The Chapter broadly examines three types of litigation: (i) public/administrative law litigation against the government’s climate targets and standards; (ii) litigation stemming from a transition to a low-carbon society (that is, project specific litigation against fossil fuel intensive projects and ‘pro’ low carbon development); and (iii) criminal litigation against climate-related protests