Climate change court cases have more than doubled worldwide in five years, with Australia second on the leader board.
A new report by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and Columbia University charts the increasing use of legal channels to force governments and corporations to act.
In 2017, when the first survey of global climate change litigation was published, there were 884 cases worldwide. By the end of last year, that had climbed to 2180.
The litigation-loving United States accounted for 1522 of those, with Australia a distant second on 127. However, on a per-capita basis, the two nations are neck-and-neck.
UNEP executive director Inger Andersen says people are increasingly turning to the courts, as climate action lags far behind what is needed to limit warming to 1.5 degrees.
Australia's Environmental Defenders Office (EDO) has run and won landmark climate cases, including one last year that killed off one of Clive Palmer's Queensland coal mines on climate and human rights grounds.
In relation to climate change, the Land Court found Waratah Coal's $6.5 billion Galilee project would limit certain rights, including the right to life, and the cultural rights of First Nations peoples.
That followed another landmark win in 2019, when the Rocky Hill coal mine proposal was rejected in part because of its potential impacts on greenhouse gas emissions and climate change.
EDO chief executive David Morris expects a dramatic escalation in legal cases as the gap widens between the temperature targets set out in the Paris climate pact, and what is being done to achieve them.
"It's often a place where you can remove yourself from politics and spin, and deal in facts and evidence,'' Mr Morris said.
"And on almost every front the facts and evidence related to climate change are compelling.
"You have the weight of evidence on your side, in terms of demanding climate action."
He expects to see a significant rise in cases, particularly on human rights grounds.
"We now have three jurisdictions with human rights legislative frameworks - Queensland, the ACT and Victoria,'' Mr Morris said.
"You would expect to see more climate change litigation based on those frameworks."
He also points to the current debate about the need for a national framework.
"One of the reasons we've had comparatively small amounts of human rights-based litigation is that we don't have that overarching, federal human rights act, that (makes) us really unique in the Western world,''Mr Morris said.
"There is a conversation at the moment about whether or not Australia ought to ... and I think it's very important that we do, not only because of what it means for climate change, but all manner of human rights."
Environmental Justice Australia has also run a long list of cases for a wide range of clients.
It is currently involved in a Federal Court challenge brought by an environment group, which claims the federal environment minister has failed to acknowledge the climate risks posed by coal mine expansion plans in NSW.
"These cases are a canary in the coal mine,'' says senior specialist lawyer Retta Berryman.
"In Australia and around the world, communities want to see urgent action on climate change, and governments and corporations held to account,"
"Where governments have failed in their responsibility to face the scientific reality, our clients are willing to consider all their legal options. In many cases, they have tried everything else, and going to court is a last resort."
Ms Berryman says the trend towards litigation is a reflection of rising fear.
"These trends reflect what we see every day in our practice, that communities on the ground understand the risks and the urgency,'' she said.
"The trends we are seeing in Australia are from clients who want to make sure that the application of laws in Australia accounts for the reality of climate change."
Australian Associated Press
