Global trends in climate change legislation and litigation: 2017 snapshot

This policy brief outlines and analyses worldwide trends in legislation and litigation on climate change. The analysis covers legislative activities in 177 countries with varying economic contexts and income levels.

The data informing this brief clearly shows that no country is acting alone on climate change. However, countries differ in their approach to climate policy. Some rely on legislated acts of parliament and others on executive orders or strategic policy documents. Acknowledging and understanding these variations is crucial. It helps to develop a sense of good practice in climate legislation, but more importantly it engenders mutual trust in the individual efforts that each country makes. More learning is required about different policies and institutional designs and how they work in different circumstances.

This brief summaries and updates a longer report published in May 2017. The longer report also includes, for the first time, analysis of climate change litigation cases, in recognition that the judiciary is beginning to play an increasingly important role in national climate policy. These stretch across 25 jurisdictions.