Climate Litigation: Access to Judicial Review in National Courts

Climate litigation in many countries across the world is often related to challenging government policies or projects which impact the environment. The review of governmental decision-making by the judiciary is a right which is well established in international and national law. The nature of climate change and its impacts create challenges for claimants attempting to institute climate litigation in national courts. These challenges include how and who can access judicial review, the rights of individuals and organisations to institute suits and overcoming a pre-requisite to prove causation between climate change impacts and the harms done. This chapter examines these challenges to instituting climate litigation cases.