CJEU Climate Cases Database

Overview

The CJEU Climate Cases Database (CJEU-CCD) is a structured and analytical compilation of climate-related judicial proceedings before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). As the first database fully dedicated to climate litigation within the EU’s highest court, the CJEU-CCD aims to trace how climate issues are being interpreted, framed, and decided by the Court. This initiative enables a deeper understanding of how the CJEU is legally addressing the climate crisis and shaping the European climate governance landscape. The database was built through a rigorous search process conducted on the Eur-Lex and Curia portals, identifying all judicial proceedings in which climate-related legislation, policies, or principles play a central or relevant role.

This pioneering effort allows researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to identify legal trends, strategic litigation patterns, and institutional behavior on climate matters across the Union’s supranational judicial forum.

Database descriptors

Each case is classified based on the following properties:

Case Title – Format: X v. Y, with appeal phases presented in a toggle structure;
Case Number – Official reference assigned by the Court;
Year of Application – Year the case was filed;
Date of Decision/Order – Date of the final ruling or procedural order;
Type of Proceedings – Nature of the legal action (action for annulment, failure to fulfill obligations, preliminary ruling, damages, failure to act);
Case Link – Redirects to the Curia case results page, displaying all related procedural acts and documents;
EU ETS Case – Indicates whether the case concerns the EU Emissions Trading System;
Decision Type – Whether the decision concerns merits or admissibility;
Predominant Area – Main thematic or regulatory focus;
Brought By – Main actor(s) bringing the case: companies, member states, European Commission, municipalities, civil society, European Investment Bank;
EU Countries and Bodies – Member States and EU institutions involved;
Applicable EU Legislation – Key directives, regulations or treaties cited;
Climate-Friendly Outcome – Classified as favorable, unfavorable, or undetermined regarding climate goals;
Summary – Concise narrative of the case background and holding;
Issues – Central legal or factual questions (keywords);
Related Cases – Internal links to other cases with legal or thematic overlap;
Strategic Litigation/Relevant Precedent – Flags for cases representing intentional legal strategy or establishing influential precedent.

Available views

Gallery of Suits – Visual presentation of cases through cards;
Table of Suits – Spreadsheet-like format for structured comparison, search, and export;
Chart View – Graphic representation of the proportion of EU ETS versus non-EU ETS cases.

Last update

The information contained in this database was last reviewed and updated on: May 28, 2025.

Citation

To reference this database, please use the following format:

Lisbon Public Law Research Centre. CJEU Climate Cases Database (CJEU-CCD). Lisbon Environmental Law Cluster Databases. Available at: https://lisbonpubliclaw.pt/lisbon-environmental-law/data-bases/.

©️ CC BY-NC 4.0: Developed by the Lisbon Environmental Law Cluster at the Lisbon Public Law Research Centre (LPL), University of Lisbon**.**

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CJEU Climate Cases Database

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CJEU Climate Cases Database (CJEU-CCD) © 2025 by Lisbon Environmental Law - Lisbon Public Law Research Centre is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.

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