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TheCorporateCounsel

TheCorporateCounsel.net

A basis for research and practical guidance focusing on federal securities laws, compliance & corporate governance.

DealLawyers

DealLawyers.com

An educational service that provides practical guidance on legal issues involving public and private mergers & acquisitions, joint ventures, private equity – and much more.

CompensationStandards

CompensationStandards.com

The “one stop” resource for information about responsible executive compensation practices & disclosure.

Section16.net

Section16.net

Widely recognized as the premier online research platform providing practical guidance on issues involving Section 16 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and all of its related rules.

PracticalESG

PracticalESG.com

Keeping you in-the-know on environmental, social and governance developments

Climate litigation has been on the rise, with the past ten years seeing massive growth. Recently, NGO Client Earth published a piece on using the law to fight climate change. The article discusses high-level strategies used by NGOs and populations around the world to combat climate change by bringing litigation against governments and corporations. The piece identifies three types of litigation used to advance climate causes:  

  • “Litigation brought against governments to hold them accountable for climate – including the increasing number of human rights-related claims
  • Litigation brought against corporate actors – increasingly this includes banks and companies outside of the oil and gas sector
  • Litigation brought on the basis of ‘greenwashing’, or misleading green promises – and increasingly concerns of the accountability gap between net zero ambition, or plans for Paris alignment and reality“

The article identifies three example cases where Client Earth is pursuing these strategies. The organization notes that while the global north has historically been the origin of most climate litigation, it is catching on and growing worldwide.

This is poised to become a major class of litigation. In the US, we saw a bombshell case come out of California in September when the state sued five major oil and gas companies. Additionally, we saw a complete trial in a climate case as sixteen young plaintiffs won against the state of Montana. Climate litigation is growing and the playbook is being written. As cases are successful, the legal strategies will be emulated by future plaintiffs. This makes staying on top of emerging litigation trends a must for anyone looking to manage their legal exposure. Our newest guidebook “Evaluating and Managing ESG Litigation Risks” is available to help.

If you aren’t already subscribed to our complimentary ESG blog, sign up here: https://practicalesg.com/subscribe/ for daily updates delivered right to you.

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The Editor

Zachary Barlow is a licensed attorney. He earned his JD from the University of Mississippi and has a bachelor’s in Public Policy Leadership. He practiced law at a mid-size firm and handled a wide variety of cases. During this time he assisted in overseeing compliance of a public entity and litigated contract disputes, gaining experience both in and outside of the courtroom. Zachary currently assists the PracticalESG.com editorial team by providing research and creating content on a spectrum of ESG… View Profile