Climate change litigation e diritto internazionale privato dell'Unione europea. Quale spazio per la tutela collettiva?

With the worsening of the climate crisis, the EU is adopting a number of measures – both in the public and private sector – in order to counter such phenomenon. The layering of substantive norms and standards goes hand in hand with the growing interest towards procedural tools suita- ble to make the application of such rules effective through private enforce- ment. Against this background, and given the collective and the ubiquitous dimension of the consequences of climate change, the present article explores the phenomenon of collective redress in the field of climate change litigation. After introducing the definitions and the characteristic features of climate change litigation and collective redress, the article examines the role of Regulations (EU) No 1215/2012 and (CE) No 864/2007, in order to eva- luate their ability to address the private international law issues arising from collective and climate change litigation. In doing so, the article focuses on the relevant case-law (both national and of the CJEU), as well as on Directive (EU) 2020/1828 on consumers’ representative actions, which provides a number of propositions that can be applied also in the context of climate change litigation. Once the main critical aspects have been identified, the article discusses some possible reform suggestions to strengthen EU private international law mechanisms in the context of environmental mass torts.