Climate change litigation in South Africa has become a significant aspect of environmental law enforcement, with courts increasingly being called upon to interpret and apply climate-related legislation. The analysis is based on publicly available court judgments related to climate change cases filed between and, with particular emphasis on landmark rulings that have set precedents for future litigation strategies. A key finding indicates a rise in the number of climate change-related lawsuits from an average of 4 per year during - to an average of 6 per year between and, suggesting growing public interest and government engagement. The judicial system in South Africa is playing a crucial role in enforcing climate change legislation through its rulings on these cases, influencing both legal practices and policy directions. Legal practitioners and environmental policymakers should closely monitor the outcomes of ongoing climate change litigation to inform future legislative reforms and enforcement strategies. The empirical specification follows Y=₀+^ X+, and inference is reported with uncertainty-aware statistical criteria.
Motshegoa et al. (Sat,) studied this question.