ORIGIN, AIMS AND SPECIFICITY OF THIS VOLUME

Climate change litigation has come to the fore in recent decades as a global phenomenon, encompassing the societal striving for radical changes, the need to establish the responsibility of both private and public organisations in view of the compelling evidence of climate change, and the collective awareness of the significant efforts needed to achieve effective and ambitious greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions, in line with the best available climate science. In this regard, the initial wave of strategic climate change litigation is now leaving room for a more structural phenomenon, arguably enshrining climate change litigation as a transnational climate governance mechanism. Several underlying trends are being appraised, which underpin the always more considerable bulk of cases being brought before jurisdictions all over Europe at the regional and domestic levels.

This edited volume aims to contribute to the discussions on trends in climate change litigation in Europe, drawing from regional, comparative and sectoral perspectives. It builds on the conference entitled ‘Climate Change Litigation in Europe: Comparative & Sectoral Perspectives and the Way Forward’ held at Hasselt University in Belgium on 18–19 February 2022, organised in cooperation with the British Institute of International and Comparative Law (BIICL) and Hasselt University.

The hybrid two-half-day event took stock of the current developments in climate change litigation in Europe while addressing systematically and comprehensively the latest relevant trends.