A new database , launched in May, compiles national climate change legislation for 164 countries in the world, as well as a integrated climate litigation database for 25 countries, including Canada. U.S. litigation is available in a separate database hosted by the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University . The entire project is the work of the Grantham Institute at the London School of Economics and the Sabin Center.
The database was the foundation of a new report, Global Trends in Climate Change Legislation and Litigation 2017 , the sixth in a series that began in 2010. The report highlights the global stock of climate laws, the pace of law-making, the focus of legislation, and climate legislation in least developed countries . The second part of the report, for the first time ever, examines trends in litigation , describing the number of climate litigation cases in 25 jurisdictions, the objectives of the cases, who the plaintiffs and defendants were , and the outcomes of litigation so far. A press release states: “These developments in climate legislation and policies since Paris should be taken in context. The 14 new laws and 33 policies add to a stock of more than 1,200 climate change or climate change-relevant laws worldwide: a twentyfold increase in the number of climate laws and policies over 20 years when compared with 1997 when there were just 60 such laws in place. … Most countries now have the legal basis on which further action can build.” The summary of the report by The Guardian highlights this optimistic note.
The report is the work of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, and the Sabin Center on Climate Change Law at the Columbia Law School, with the support of the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the British Academy. It was launched at the UNFCCC meetings in Bonn on May 9.
The database is available to the public, and “users are welcome to download, save, or distribute the results electronically or in any other format, without written permission of the authors.” Acknowledging that the database is not yet comprehensive, contributions are also invited: “Please send your comments (attaching supporting documents if possible) to: gri.cgl@lse.ac.uk.”
