Climate Litigation Observatory Database

Overview

The Climate Litigation Observatory (CLO) is a dynamic and curated database of climate litigation cases from around the world. While not intended to be exhaustive, the CLO aims to identify and map emerging trends, legal arguments, and patterns of climate-related judicial activity across jurisdictions. Its added value lies in its advanced classification system and keyword mapping, which allow users to explore interconnections between cases and understand broader developments in climate litigation.

Database descriptors

Each case is categorized according to the following descriptors:

URL – Direct link to the case;
Google Drive – Access to key procedural documents and filings;
Reference Number – Official case or docket number;
Country/Territory – Jurisdiction where the litigation was filed or decided;
Geographical Area – Continents;
Court Name – Judicial body responsible for the decision;
Date – Filing date or date of final ruling;
Keywords – Central legal, factual, or thematic descriptors used to trace trends and group similar cases;
Type of Suit – Indicates whether the claim is directed against governments, corporations, or individuals;
Reference (APA) – Standardized academic citation;
Related Cases – Links to other cases in the database with thematic, procedural, or actor-based similarities;
Relevance – Evaluative assessment of the case’s potential impact on the future of climate litigation (High, Medium, Low);
Status of Suit – Indicates whether the case is pending, decided, or dismissed;
Legal Acts – Core legal instruments or norms (national or international) cited in the proceedings.

Available views

Gallery of Suits – Visual preview of cases with summary cards;
Status of Suits – Interactive visualization by litigation status (pending, decided, dismissed);
Table of Suits – Comprehensive spreadsheet view for comparison, filtering, and extraction.

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 citation:

Lisbon Public Law Research Centre. Climate Litigation Observatory (CLO). 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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Climate Litigation Observatory Database

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Climate Litigation Observatory Database (CLO) © 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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