Despite continuous warnings of global warming by scientists, the legislatives
and the executives around the world are failing to implement sufficient countermeasures. This has led to an influx of climate litigation cases. From 2017 to 2020, climate litigation cases almost doubled worldwide. As a result of climate litigation courts often refine environmental protection mechanisms. Those are either vested in constitutions as a subjective right of the individual or as a state directive (policy goals). In deviationm from previous interpretation some courts now interpret state directives more widely than before: Courts namely discover substantive environmental rights based on a state directive in combination with other civil liberties vested in the constitution. These interpretations of environmental state directives are (beyond their immediate impact on the climate commitments of a country) of interest from a comparative law point of view, given that many other social rights have also been enshrined as state directives in constitutions. Climate litigations can be broadly divided into three categories: (1) the state is required to take a certain action to protect the environment, (2) the state is prohibited from initiating or continuing harmful environmental actions and (3) the standard of environmental protection is strengthened by the interpretation of the
constitution. International agreements such as the Paris Agreement also have noticeably impacted national jurisprudence. This demonstrates that national courts can enforce compliance with international climate protection agreements and related constitutional environmental protection claims such as ensuring intergenerational equity. General environmental principles, such as the “polluter pays principle” are beginning to form part of the debate of negotiated solutions. In general, climate litigation and their adjudication have in several countries become a tool to compel policymakers and executives to act in a climate conscious manner, enforcing and achieving climate goals that their countries have committed to.