In Qatar, there have been no cases where citizens (or citizen groups) have brought a private actor to court for allegedly breaching the law by carrying out operations that contribute negatively to climate change.
The absence of cases can be explained by: (i) litigation is not a driver for change in Qatar; (ii) political and legislative interventions are driven solely by governmental regulation and enforcement; (iii) there are no legal mechanisms that enable litigation on climate change issues.
Under the Qatari Civil Code or Environmental Protection Law, individuals do not have standing to bring cases against private actors for climate change, social justice, pollution or other environmental issues.
Only the executive and legislative branches reserve the right to bring cases against private actors on climate change grounds.
For more country specific context and relevant national climate change law see: https://climate-laws.org/geographies/qatar
This country report has been produced by Humzah Khan, C2LI Senior Research Assistant and Kate McKenzie, C2LI Legal Analyst. The summary is based on Aaron Richard Harmon and Jon Truby, “Climate Change and the Individual Report on Qatar” in F. Sindico and M. Moise Mbengue, Comparative Climate Change Litigation: Beyond the Usual Suspects, Springer, 2021.