Can climate lawsuits slow global warming?

• More lawsuits target states over climate policies
• Court climate rulings set precedents for fresh cases
• Investors sue states for losses due to climate laws

BRUSSELS - A French court has penalised TotalEnergies for misleading consumers over its carbon neutrality claims in what activists called an unprecedented 'greenwashing' victory over an oil and gas giant.

Brought by Greenpeace and two other environmental NGOs, Thursday's win in a Paris court could set a legal precedent for accountability, and comes as the European Union seeks to clamp down on false and exaggerated green claims by business.

The court found that the company had posted messages on its website which were "likely to mislead consumers about the scope of the group's environmental commitments".

In an emailed statement, TotalEnergies acknowledged the decision but was quick to say the judges had "dismissed most of the claims made against TotalEnergies SE", and that the ruling "only targeted general mentions of ambitions" on its website.

The court ordered the Paris-based company to pay 8,000 euros ($9,330) to each of the three NGOs and cover their legal fees.

The firm, which is among the top 10 oil and gas companies worldwide by revenue, must also strip its website of all misleading environmental statements and post a link to the legal decision, or face penalties of up to 20,000 euros per day.

It was the latest in a string of 'green' wins at court, putting corporations and governments on notice that public climate claims should be backed by facts or matched by action.

In July, the United Nations' highest court said countries must keep their promises to slash emissions or risk having to compensate nations that are hard hit by climate change.

Dubbed "climate lawfare", a growing number of activists, scientists and Indigenous people are filing lawsuits against governments and fossil fuel companies, hoping to slow global warming by holding them to account for climate-driven impacts such as extreme weather. 

Here's what you need to know about 'climate lawfare':

What is climate change litigation and where is it happening?

Individuals or groups have taken a range of governments and companies to court to spur climate action, such as phasing out fossil fuels and reducing harmful emissions.

Climate litigation can also refer to the growing number of legal disputes between investors and states that arise because international treaty provisions allow energy firms to sue governments when their carbon-cutting programmes affect profits.

In 2024, at least 226 new climate cases were filed, bringing the total to nearly 3,000 across nearly 60 countries.

Most were in the United States, but more and more cases are being filed in the Global South, according to the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.

The majority of them are brought by NGOs and concern environmental impact assessments, often for the construction of coal-fired power plants, but also include cases addressing issues such as the right to clean air and water.

Which cases have marked legal milestones in recent years?

In May, a German court rejected a Peruvian farmer's appeal for damages against RWE - a German energy utility he accused of putting his home at risk through climate change - but ruled that companies were liable for emissions: a key legal precedent.

More than 2,000 Swiss women aged over 64 brought a case in 2023 accusing their government of violating their human rights by putting them at risk of dying during heatwaves.

Last year, the European Court of Human Rights upheld their complaint, a decision likely to set a legal precedent.

In March, the Council of Europe, the court's oversight body, said Switzerland had not proven it was meeting its climate obligations.

In May 2024, the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea ruled greenhouse gas emissions absorbed by the ocean are a form of marine pollution, subject to international controls.

In the first U.S. youth-led climate case to reach trial, 16 plaintiffs, aged from 2 to 18, filed a lawsuit against Montana over policies prohibiting state agencies from considering climate impacts when approving fossil-fuel projects.

A judge ruled in the plaintiffs' favour in 2023, citing a provision in the state constitution requiring it to protect and improve the environment. The decision was upheld by Montana's top court in December 2024.

Can climate litigation drive change?

Court victories for campaigners are likely to spur more cases, and the legal precedents already set make it more likely that similar lawsuits will prevail.

For example, the case against TotalEnergies built on a successful 2024 case against Dutch airline KLM for misleading consumers about the environmental impact of air travel.

Environmentalists are also pushing for ecocide - large-scale environmental destruction - to be a crime that could be prosecuted by the International Criminal Court, alongside offences such as war crimes and genocide.

But testing legal arguments demands time and money, with some cases taking up to a decade to come to trial.

This article was updated on October 24, 2025, with the latest developments. 

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(Reporting by Joanna Gill with additional reporting from Nita Bhalla, David Sherfinski and Andre Cabette Fabio and Anastasia Moloney; Editing by Lyndsay Griffiths and Jon Hemming.)