Climate Change Litigation in Brazil and Latin America: An Increasing Trend That Companies Must Be Prepared For By Luiz Gustavo Bezerra, Gedham Gomes and Victor Rodrigues Summary Climate change litigation is Nations Framework Convention on Luiz Gustavo Bezerra already a firmly established trend in Climate Change (“UNFCCC”); the
[email protected] North American and European coun- Kyoto Protocol; the 17 Sustainable Rio de Janeiro (T&C) tries, but it is still not widespread in Development Goals (one of which is Brazil and Latin America. However, climate action, along with others that +55 21 2127 4231 recent developments—as recently as also relate to environmental matters); São Paulo (T&C) June and August 2020 in Brazil—sug- the Paris Agreement and its nationally +55 11 2504 4214 gest that an increase in climate-related determined contributions (“NDCs”); lawsuits is just around the corner and and the incorporation of environmen- that companies should get prepared. tal, social and corporate governance Gedham Gomes (“ESG”) indicators to measure the The year of 2020 will certainly be
[email protected] remembered as a landmark to the sustainability and societal impact of Rio de Janeiro strengthening of global awareness businesses. regarding climate change, as the In January 2020, the World Economic +55 21 2127 4254 COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting Forum published The Global Risks 2 confinement measures proved that Report 2020 , listing the major global Victor Rodrigues reducing carbon emissions is possible. risks in terms of likelihood