Trump rollback sparks wave of lawsuits defending climate rules

Around 20 percent of U.S. climate cases filed in 2025 were defensive, aimed at protecting existing rules, permits and pledges from being stripped away. A new analysis from the Grantham Research Institute at the London School of Economics found that share was up from 13 percent during Trump’s first administration.

Litigants are now pressing judges to stop regulators from freezing funds, weakening standards or dismantling policies already on the books. Joana Setzer, a co-author of the analysis, said the climate movement has responded to deregulatory pressure with more legal action challenging rollbacks. The analysis found around 12 percent of cases filed in 2025 were anti-climate litigation, with the pattern clearest in the United States.

The Grantham analysis found at least 226 new climate cases in 2024, bringing the cumulative total to almost 3,000 across nearly 60 countries. The United Nations Environment Programme counted 3,099 climate-related cases as of June 30, 2025, in 55 national jurisdictions and 24 international or regional courts, tribunals or quasi-judicial bodies. The Sabin Center for Climate Change Law’s tracker contains more than 3,000 cases.

Similar protective cases were filed in Europe and Brazil, and the broader trend has expanded to disputes over emissions, fossil fuels, climate-washing and government obligations. In July 2025, the International Court of Justice issued an advisory opinion on climate change, and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights adopted Advisory Opinion 32/25 on the climate emergency and human rights after a request from Chile and Colombia. The process drew the highest participation in the Inter-American court’s history.

In 2026, Sens. Ted Cruz, Tom Cotton, Katie Britt and Mike Lee introduced the Stop Climate Shakedowns Act, a bill that would bar climate-related suits against energy producers in state or federal court and block state efforts to regulate interstate and global emissions.