The Influence of Climate Litigation on Managing Climate Change Risks: The Pioneering Work of the Netherlands Courts

This paper analyses the way in which the responsibility for managing climate change risks is addressed by the Dutch courts in the Urgenda and Shell cases. A foundation called Urgenda initiated proceedings against the State of the Netherlands; followed by Milieudefensie (Friends of the Earth Netherlands) initiating proceedings against Shell, a multinational oil corporation with, at the time, its headquarters still in the Netherlands. This paper looks at both these examples of climate litigation, with a focus on what the courts had to say about responsibilities for managing climate change risks.