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

and well-being, not only in terms of material resources (“provisioning services”) but also shel- tering populations from physical harm for example purifying water (“regulating services”), maintaining planetary equilibrium (“supporting services”), and promoting spiritual and cul- tural value (“culturally enriching services”) [48]. The post-2015 surge in cases has been linked with two major 2015 events: 1) the passage of the Paris Agreement which solidified national commitments to carbon emission reduction to limit global warming to well below 2, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre- Fig 7. File year of pending public health-linked climate litigation cases. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0268633.g007 Fig 8. Verdict year of decided public health-linked climate litigation cases. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0268633.g008 PLOS ONE Public health as a legal tool in climate litigation PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0268633 June 15, 2022 13 / 31