Litigation

When used as a strategy to cope with decarbonisation policy, litigation is usually used to resist decarbonisation activities. While we identified a number of lawsuits demanding stronger climate policies, these were not ultimately included in the database unless they responded directly to an existing decarbonisation policy. The overall number of cases of litigation that were specifically responding to, or “coping” with, decarbonisation policy was relatively low.

We have included litigation in the Coping Strategies Inventory because it is a high profile activity that requires a significant input of resources and is usually only used when coping actors feel they have run out of other options. Groups opposing wind power will sometimes use litigation to try to delay or stop wind turbine or farm development. Companies can also use litigation to try to resist policies that limit their carbon-producing activities.

Success rates for litigation are varied, although this result may change over time. For example, proponents of wind developments often try to modify plans or proposals to address the constraints imposed by litigation and find other ways to develop wind projects.