As 2025 comes to a close, climate lawfare finds itself in a familiar position: facing another year of courtroom losses, growing skepticism from judges, and intensified public scrutiny. Yet what makes this year different is not just what happened in the courts, it’s how these developments have positioned 2026 to be a potentially decisive moment for the entire campaign.
After more than a decade of recycled legal theories and courtroom failures, climate litigation is increasingly running out of places to hide.
SCOTUS Faces Pivotal Decision for the Future of Climate Litigation
After ten years of #ExxonKnew, the misguided climate claims are closer than ever before to finally being heard by the U.S. Supreme Court, as the justices considered this month whether to grant review of a cert petition that should reshape the entire climate lawfare landscape.
The petition at issue challenged the Colorado State Supreme Court’s decision in the City of Boulder and Boulder County’s climate lawsuit, and has brought together a large coalition all united in one message: it is time for the Court to finally weigh in on these claims and rule if they actually belong in federal court. The coalition, made up of the U.S. Department of Justice, 26 state attorneys general, more than 100 members of Congress, and academic experts, showcases that these concerns are not just coming from industry, but rather signal the issue is of national importance.
Since the Court has yet to issue their pivotal decision, 2026 is set to be the year where the decade-long climate litigation effort may finally fall completely.
In the States, It’s Loss After Loss
Amidst this backdrop, it’s important to note that ten years into the climate lawfare experiment, much has changed, especially during 2025. This year alone, seven climate cases were dismissed across the country, including lawsuits in Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, and New York.
Judges issuing these dismissals raised many of the same concerns, including fundamental flaws in the legal theories and the impropriety of using state courts to adjudicate national claims.
Appeals have been filed in most of these matters, meaning they will continue to stumble through state courts in the new year, dragging the campaign out further. In 2026, important events are imminent in other cases, including a ruling in Maryland’s consolidated Supreme Court case, after the court pressed the plaintiffs’ attorneys on the global implications of its claims.
Regardless, the court record doesn’t lie: the climate litigation campaign is losing ground, and fast. Although climate activists may believe that certain rulings, such as the one being challenged from the Colorado Supreme Court, indicate hope for the campaign’s eventual success, the opposite is actually true. Instead, the growing divide among lower courts on how to handle these fundamental constitutional questions only encourages the Supreme Court to step in.
New Strategies Bring No Success
As traditional climate claims continue to falter, activists have attempted to broaden their attack on energy companies by experimenting with new legal theories. None have succeeded.
Among the notable tactics in 2025:
In the insurance case, the law firm leading the effort has already suffered losses in prior climate litigation and is facing legal scrutiny of its own.
The climate litigation campaign can try to spin the same claims as many ways as they want, but the end result will likely be the same: these claims have no place in the court systems of states and municipalities.
Oversight and Scrutiny Close in on Climate Lawfare
Court losses were only part of the story in 2025. This year also brought unprecedented scrutiny of the institutions and actors driving climate litigation.
Key developments included:
Bottom line: For climate lawfare, 2025 marked another year riddled with legal losses and widespread criticism. Looking ahead to 2026, which will mark the eleventh year in the drawn-out campaign, the U.S. Supreme Court has a crucial opportunity to end the litigation campaign. With the current administration, Congress, and many state AGs all aligned on the need to ensure proper oversight and transparency in the courts, it’s doubtful 2026 will look any better for anti-industry groups and their billionaire buddies
