Over 450 individuals have launched a landmark lawsuit against the Japanese government, each seeking damages of 1,000 yen (approximately $6), contending that one of the world’s leading greenhouse gas emitters is failing to take sufficient action to address the escalating threat of global warming.
Filed on Thursday at the Tokyo District Court, the case asserts that Japan’s current climate targets are inadequate to meet international commitments aimed at limiting global temperature increases to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. According to a summary of the complaint prepared by the Climate Justice Litigation Office—a legal advocacy group supporting the plaintiffs—Japan’s pledge to reduce emissions by 60% by 2035 relative to 2013 levels “falls short of what is necessary and endangers our very lives.”
When questioned about the lawsuit at a Thursday press briefing, Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara refrained from commenting directly on the legal action. “Climate change represents an urgent and shared challenge for all of humanity,” he said. “Regarding Japan, we submitted new and ambitious greenhouse gas reduction targets in February this year, which align with the 1.5°C goal of the Paris Agreement. The entire government is working collaboratively to ensure these targets are met.”
The lawsuit comes in the wake of increasingly extreme summer conditions across Japan, where unprecedented heatwaves have repeatedly broken temperature records, placing immense strain on the nation’s power grids and healthcare infrastructure. In response, the government introduced stricter regulations in June to protect workers from extreme heat, imposing fines of up to 500,000 yen for employers who fail to comply.
This case mirrors a growing global trend of climate litigation, in which individuals and advocacy groups seek to hold governments or corporations accountable for insufficient climate action. According to a June report by the Grantham Research Institute on Climate, at least 226 new climate-related lawsuits were filed worldwide in 2024 alone.
Notably, similar legal efforts have produced tangible victories elsewhere: in August 2024, South Korea’s Constitutional Court ruled in favour of over 250 plaintiffs, mostly young activists, who challenged their government’s climate policies, reinforcing the emerging global precedent that citizens can demand stronger governmental action on climate change.
With Japan now facing a wave of citizen-led legal scrutiny, the case could mark a significant milestone in the international effort to hold governments accountable for environmental stewardship and the urgent fight against climate change.