The accountability decade: tracing the evolution of climate litigation

In 2015, a Dutch court became the first in the world to order a government to take stronger action on climate. Since then, climate litigation has evolved into a global accountability system used by private actors, civil society and individuals locally, regionally, nationally and internationally to hold governments and corporate polluters accountable.In this episode of Climate Court Voices, Lucy Maxwell, Co-Director of the Climate Litigation Network, helps us understand how a surge in climate lawsuits in the past decade has forced governments to set clear rules for national climate action, influenced public opinion, and reshaped how investors and regulators perceive climate risk. She discusses key court battles and the legal building blocks they have established, how corporate climate litigation is beginning to catch up, and what cases we should look out for in 2026.Timestamps: (00:00) Intro(01:38) The world's top court rules on climate(03:21) Introducing Lucy(04:20) The meaning of the Urgenda case(07:15) New legal building blocks(11:53) The rise of corporate climate litigation(15:12) Pushback and progress in corporate litigation(19:27) What happens when rulings are ignored?(23:42) Where is climate litigation heading?(25:43) Cases to look out for in 2026