According to the 2026 Global Climate Litigation Trends Report, climate litigation is expanding beyond the fossil fuel sector, with an increasing number of cases involving banks, retailers, real estate companies and downstream supply chains.
More than 3,600 climate lawsuits have been filed since 1986, with lawsuits filed since 2015 accounting for more than three-quarters of the total. The number of countries where litigation has been identified has expanded from 19 a decade ago to 62, and 249 new lawsuits were filed in 2025 alone.
The targets of litigation span a wide range of sectors, including energy, finance, transportation, real estate and consumer goods. Legal action is also beginning to extend to downstream supply chains with high greenhouse gas emissions.
Lawsuits seeking action on environmental impacts, including greenwashing, governance and the review of adaptation plans are increasing, as are cases involving data centres and plastics. Sustainability departments need to identify and address legal risks across the organisation, and companies are increasingly incorporating climate factors into decision-making processes.
Cases involving new plaintiffs, including shareholders and insurers, are emerging, making coordination among legal, risk management, finance and communications departments increasingly important. As litigation strategies shift, transition plans, capital allocation and the transparency of product labelling are coming under scrutiny more frequently.