Beyond ecological miscommunication: a system theory approach to climate litigation

The increasing number of lawsuits against European carbon majors has sparked interest among legal scholars. However, the literature has paid little attention to the sociological dimension of climate litigation. This paper makes two contributions. First, it develops a systems-theory Framework to analyse key social dynamics that emerge between social systems at stake in corporate climate litigation, including science, law, economics, politics, media, and organisations (NGOs). Second, this paper investigates the overlooked key role of NGOs in climate litigation. Findings from 16 qualitative semi-structured interviews with lawyers and members of NGOs involved in corporate climate litigation over loss and damage indicate that NGOs ease systemic buondaries for three reasons. First, NGO’s climate litigation campaings augment ecological irritation between social systems. Second, NGOs’ operational structures are coupled with a plurality of social systems’ codes, which bring different systems into collaboration. Third, climate litigation supported by NGOs requires the practice networking among different NGOs and expert affine to diffferent social systems. The increase in resonance, coupling- and network-oriented characters of NGOs’ climate litigation campaigns redefines Luhmann’s key conceptual tools, such as structural coupling, the relationship system-environment (ecological communication), as well as his description of organisation as a forum of interdependence interruption ( Intedependezunterbrechung ).