Civil liability for climate-related damage in Brazil

The rise in corporate climate litigation has brought new issues concerning causation, the attribution of liability and compensation for damages associated with climate change before the courts. This article analyses the public civil action brought in October 2026 by the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Instituto Preservar against Shell Brasil Petróleo Ltda., which seeks proportionate compensation for damages related to the 2024 floods in Rio Grande do Sul – an event occurring against a national backdrop of a marked increase in the frequency and intensity of water-related disasters, the impacts of which reflect anthropogenic changes to the hydrological cycle resulting from global warming. Through legal-dogmatic, documentary and comparative research, this study examines the foundations of Brazilian strict civil environmental liability, the scientific methodologies for climate attribution used in the claim, and selected cases of corporate litigation in Europe and the United States. The analysis shows that strict liability does not require proof of fault, but it does not eliminate the need to demonstrate the damage, the legally relevant causal link and the conditions for attributing liability to the defendant legal person. The international cases reveal different procedural strategies, involving compensation for economic losses, emission reductions, fiduciary duties, corporate misinformation and climate adaptation