The law is the best way to empower people to protect their environment, and the only way to rebalance the power between governments, industry and individuals.
We have helped governments to write environmental laws, and regulators to enforce them. We have saved Europe’s oldest forest from destruction, smoothed the way for environmental lawsuits in China, and helped communities in Africa’s last great rainforest cut illegal logging.
We make sure people can find information about the environment where they live and work, so they can take that information to court when things go wrong. We sue polluting companies, and we help them change their business model to do better in future. Because protecting the planet is best for us all.
2024
February
We again challenged a giant new €3bn plastics project by INEOS, after it received fresh approval from the Flemish authorities. INEOS failed to detail the true impact of the project on people, nature and the climate. Plastic must be tackled at the source.
March
KLM’s greenwashing was found illegal after we supported Dutch campaigners in their case against the airline’s misleading marketing, which falsely promoted the sustainability of flying.
May
We won our case against the UK government for the second time, when the High Court ruled in our favour that the government’s climate strategy is not fit-for-purpose, and therefore breaches the UK Climate Change Act.
May
Portugal abandoned plans to build a new airport on a nature reserve, as a result of our lawsuit. This means that many protected migratory birds and habitats in the Tagus Estuary, a protected nature reserve, will avoid being permanently disturbed.
May
We started legal action against France to ensure that it finally complies with laws to protect the Mediterranean. France is refusing to implement an EU ban on bottom-trawling in Marine Protected Areas, so we're taking action.
July
We supported a group of property owners and farmers in Colorado, living with polluting abandoned oil and gas wells on their properties, to file a lawsuit against oil and gas companies in a landmark case. We will be representing the plaintiffs in court.
July
The Office for Environmental Protection announced it is investigating the UK government’s repeated authorisation of a pesticide that may have harmful effects on pollinators and the wider environment, following a warning from us in 2023.
September
We announced a lawsuit against the German government for failing to comply with the EU rules on pesticides. Germany should have implemented a specific and binding legal framework to reduce pesticide use 13 years ago, but hasn't, so we're taking action.
September
We continued legal action against EU ministers for allowing hugely unsustainable fishing to take place, damaging fish populations beyond measure. We attended a hearing in the case in Luxembourg, and we expect a ruling in the first half of 2025.
September
We filed a lawsuit with Spain’s national high court against the Spanish government after it was found that bottom trawling is taking place in many Marine Protected Area in Spain, and thus violating EU and national conservation law.
October
We filed a complaint against the investment company BlackRock, for greenwashing. We believe that BlackRock's marketing is misleading – investment funds the company is calling 'sustainable' really aren’t, as they have poured over a billion into fossil fuel companies including Shell and BP.
November
We began representing two Polish citizens who suffer from asthma, as they take their government to court over its failure to tackle air pollution. They are alleging that the Polish State’s failure to tackle smog has worsened their health conditions, violating their fundamental rights.
November
As result of a legal complaint we supported, Coca-Cola is now being investigated for potentially misleading “100% recyclable” claims.
November
We co-hosted a workshop in partnership with the Chinese Supreme People’s Court and the United Nations Environment Programme. We brought together senior environmental judges, lawmakers and professors in Chengdu to discuss greenwashing, green finance and climate action.
December
We won in court against the Italian government over a gas project in Italy that would have pumped out hundreds of thousands of barrels of gas from the seabed each day – and put dolphins and turtles in grave danger. We challenged this project in 2021, and in 2024 the judge agreed with us in court.
December
Our first greenwashing case in Poland ended in settlement. In 2021, we filed a groundbreaking lawsuit against one of the leading producers of so-called “eco-pea” coal. As part of the settlement, the producer has now committed to abandoning the name “eco-pea” and removing misleading packaging.
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2023
January
We, along with Surfrider Foundation Europe and Zero Waste France filed a lawsuit against the French company, Danone, over its global plastic pollution. The case argues that Danone is not doing enough to reduce its plastic footprint and therefore it's failing to live up to its duties under the law.
May
We filed a legal complaint against US-based agricultural giant Cargill over its failure to adequately deal with its contribution to soy-driven deforestation and human rights violations in Brazil.
May
A judge ruled the landmark greenwashing legal action against French oil and gas giant TotalEnergies is allowed to proceed, marking a major step forward in protecting consumers from misleading marketing claims over sustainability.
September
We published our UK Manifesto, detailing what we want to see from the UK’s new government. With the General Election coming in 2024, all parties have the chance to make bold, meaningful commitments to nature and the environment.
October
We won our first ever agricultural case and forced Italian authorities to protect citizens and the iconic lake Vico from intensive farming pollution. Intensive farming led to a dangerous amount of fertilisers running into the lake, killing off the wildlife and rendering it no longer drinkable for locals.
November
We supported legal action against Coca-Cola, Nestlé and Danone for their misleading claims about recycling on plastic water bottles sold across Europe.
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Our work in 2022
- We started legal action against Shell’s Board of Directors, in a claim that seeks to hold them personally liable for not managing climate risk and not preparing for a net zero future.
- We joined legal action against TotalEnergies over its misleading advertising and greenwashing.
- We took the UK Government to court over its inadequate net zero strategy. The Government failed to put forward policies that will properly tackle climate change, so we took action.
- We challenged the European Commission to review what it considers ‘sustainable investment’. Currently the list includes bioenergy, bio-based plastics and chemicals used to make plastics. This is unlawful.
- In May, we launched an internal review asking the EU council to review their decision to set EU/UK fishing limits far above scientific recommendations. It’s time to end overfishing.
- Together with Friends of the Earth Europe, Food Water Europe and CEE Bankwatch we have started legal action against the EU Commission for supporting 30 disastrous gas projects in Europe. Gas is a fossil fuel, it shouldn't be given VIP status.
- We joined Fossielvrij NL in taking legal action against Dutch airline KLM for misleading marketing that promotes the 'sustainability' of flying.
- In August, we team up with environmental and consumer groups in the United States to bring a first-of-its-kind lawsuit against District of Colombia power utility Washington Gas, over greenwashing in its marketing.
What we achieved in 2021
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After a 13-year-long fight, we won the right for all people to challenge the EU in court on decisions that break environmental law. Previously, only NGOs could do this – so this reform gives members of the public the opportunity to hold the EU to account over climate change and biodiversity loss.
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We launched the Greenwashing Files, investigating the advertising claims of some of the world’s biggest fossil fuel companies and exposing the reality behind the greenwashing.
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After our legal intervention, Polish authorities announced that Belchatow – Europe’s biggest coal plant – will start to wind up operations and published a plan to close the plant.
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In a massive win for the UK and the climate, Drax confirmed it will abandon its plans to build Europe’s largest gas plant. Now we want to see Drax embrace real low-carbon and sustainable energy.
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The European Commission started new proceedings against the Polish government for their continued failure to protect Bialowieza – Europe’s oldest forest.
Our key wins in 2020
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In a landmark decision, a Polish District court judge demanded the operators of Europe's biggest coal plant negotiate with our lawyers to accelerate its closure.
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Republic of Congo passed a new law to help ensure more sustainable management of the country’s vast forests. Our legal experts spent eight years working with local partner organisations to help draft the law.
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We had our first win in our fight against the expansion of a plastics plant in Antwerp. Following our legal action, project owners INEOS began a comprehensive environmental impact assessment so the plant’s total impact can’t be ignored.
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Polish energy company Enea announced they will suspend construction of planned coal plant Ostroleka C following our shareholder lawsuit.
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BP announced they were pulling their Possibilities Everywhere ad campaign after we made a complaint, citing greenwashing.
- The Australian government promised $25m in climate adaptation spending for the Torres Strait – a key ask of a group of eight islanders who brought a world-first human rights complaint over the country's climate inaction
2019
In November, the European Investment Bank announced it will stop funding fossil fuel projects from 2021 after months of advocacy from ClientEarth lawyers.
2018
We reported four major UK companies to the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) over failures to address climate change trends and risks in their reports to shareholders.
November 2017
The EU’s top court upheld the emergency ban on logging in Bialowieza Forest, Europe’s oldest forest, saying it will impose fines of at least €100,000 a day if Poland’s Environment Minister keeps ignoring the Court’s decisions. By the end of November, the harvesters had withdrawn.
May 2017
We warn BP and Glencore of the risk of investor lawsuits based on poor climate change reporting. The UK financial regulator changes its risk reporting rules to incorporate climate risk in response to our work
2016
Working alongside local communities and other campaigners we block Polnoc plant, the largest new coal power plant in Europe.
2015
We train judges and prosecutors in China to use environmental law. Since then, ClientEarth has supported the development of more than 600 environmental courts and over 140,000 legal challenges have been filed, against companies and government departments violating environmental laws.
2014
Our EU-wide community power project establishes the legal basis to help people own renewables and contribute to a cleaner, more sustainable power system.
2013
We win our Supreme Court case against the UK government for failing to tackle our dirty air, because climate change and air pollution go hand in hand.
2013
Coal is the main cause of life-limiting air quality in Krakow. We convince the authorities to ban coal for domestic heating.
2012
We block Polish government attempts to prop up its polluting coal fleet with free carbon emissions allowances for ineligible power plants.
2010
We file complaints against Rio Tinto and BP for inadequately disclosing climate impacts in their annual reports.
2010
We are key players in getting an EU-wide law banning illegally harvested rainforest timber passed, significantly reducing CO2 emissions and protecting fragile habitats.
2008
In response to our work the UK Government agrees to do environmental assessments before approving new coal plants. A new generation of climate-damaging coal power is shelved.
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We use law as a tool to mend the relationship between human societies and the Earth. We work all around the world, bringing together law, science and policy to create practical solutions to key environmental challenges.James Thornton, President and Founder
