ABSTRACT
This Chapter explores the use of liability for unjust enrichment as a complementary strategy to tort-based approaches in climate litigation. The Chapter suggests that major fossil fuel extractors are being unjustly enriched at the expense of the public if they profit from depleting the limited resource of the atmospheric carbon budget. The Chapter illustrates the possible advantages of shifting the focus of climate litigation away from greenhouse gas emissions and resulting harm, and towards extraction activities and their associated profits. This redirection helps ground litigation efforts in concrete, present monetary gains, instead of abstract future harms, thereby simplifying recovery measurement and avoiding difficulties relating to proof of causation. While not a panacea, unjust enrichment provides a valuable tool for supplementing existing legal strategies, enhancing deterrence, and addressing structural economic incentives perpetuating the crisis.
Gilboa, Maytal and Kaplan, Yotam and Sarel, Roee, Unjust Enrichment and Climate Litigation (July 1, 2025).
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