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Climate change cases numbered nearly 900 in 24 nations as of March, according to a survey by UN Environment and Columbia Law School, marking a steady increase in lawsuits filed to hold governments and companies to account over carbon pollution.

They include a handful of milestone suits that charge violations of various states’ constitutions.

Here are five cases whose outcomes, some expected in the coming year, could reshape the roles and responsibilities of governments and businesses in tackling climate change:

– URGENDA FOUNDATION V. KINGDOM OF THE NETHERLANDS (NETHERLANDS)

This landmark case energized the climate movement in 2015 when a district court sided with the nearly 900 Dutch citizens behind it, ordering their government to cut greenhouse has emissions faster.

It was “one of the most important climate change decisions ever issued”, said Michael Gerrard, director of Columbia Law School’s Sabin Center for Climate Change Law in New York…….

– JULIANA V. UNITED STATES (UNITED STATES)

Trial in this federal suit filed by a group of 21 U.S. teenagers could begin in February 2018……

– LLIUYA V. RWE (GERMANY)

A Peruvian farmer, Saúl Luciano Lliuya, is seeking $20,000 in damages from a large German energy utility based half-way around the world…..- EXXON MOBIL CORPORATION V. MAURA TRACY HEALEY (UNITED STATES)

Exxon Mobil is battling attorney generals in Massachusetts and New York who are investigating the oil giant, after news reports charged in 2015 that its own scientists had found cutting fossil fuel use was needed to slow down climate change…….

– GREENPEACE NORDIC V. GOVERNMENT OF NORWAY (NORWAY)

In another case rooted in a constitutional argument, this lawsuit charges that Norway violated the country’s constitution by letting energy firms explore for oil and gas in the Arctic Barents Sea….. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-climatechange-lawsuit-factbox/on-the-boil-five-climate-lawsuits-to-watch-in-2018-idUSKBN1EM0J7