Legal implications of the climate-health crisis: A case study analysis of the role of public health in climate litigation

human and environmental health) was used in the case document submitted to the court. The number of times the word “health” was explicitly used ranged widely from twice (case 6) to a maximum of 28 (case 4). Discussion The evolution of litigation as a legal tool for climate action The recent surge in climate litigation, characterized by a notable uptick in cases filed since 2015, is testament to the growing recognition of the potential value of using litigation as a tool for climate action. The rising trend in cases filed (Fig 1) indicates a growing expectation that actors ought to be held accountable for actions which wreak havoc on the environment and threaten the prospect of sustaining a climate compatible with human life. These temporal trends are generally consistent with findings from other studies which have documented a rel- atively consistent rise in both US- and non-US-filed climate litigation cases [84]. The discourse on environmental health now occurring in legal courts can also be said to represent an increased appreciation for the role of Ecosystem Services in supporting health Fig 6. Current status of public health-linked climate litigation cases (April 2020). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0268633.g006 PLOS ONE Public health as a legal tool in climate litigation PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0268633 June 15, 2022 12 / 31