ClimpactPlatform

The road to an open-access impact database

Climpact runs in deliberate phases — from methodological fine-tuning, through two parallel research lines and their chains of impact, to a public open-access database. Here is the whole arc, and exactly where we are right now.

  1. FoundationsWe are here

    Kick-off

    Establishment of the team and the analytical framework, plus methodological fine-tuning of the standardized instruments before the empirical work begins.

  2. Research Line A

    RL-A, Government target

    The first empirical research line, studying climate litigation that targets governments and public authorities.

    • Empirical analysis on the same dataset of cases, using different disciplinary methodologies and sources
    • Record and capture findings through standardized ICICs and ACICs across cases and clusters
    • Constant interdisciplinary integration and use of peer review for intermediate findings
  3. Chain of impact, A

    Process tracing & Chain of Impact Report (RL-A)

    At the close of Research Line A, process tracing reconstructs the causal mechanisms linking litigation to its impacts — distinguishing genuine effects from mere correlation — and the findings are compiled into a Chain of Impact Report (COI-R).

  4. Research Line B

    RL-B, Private / corporate target

    The second empirical research line, mirroring RL-A on climate litigation that targets private and corporate actors.

    • Empirical analysis on the same dataset of cases, using different disciplinary methodologies and sources
    • Record and capture findings through standardized ICICs and ACICs across cases and clusters
    • Constant interdisciplinary integration and use of peer review for intermediate findings
  5. Chain of impact, B

    Process tracing & Chain of Impact Report (RL-B)

    At the close of Research Line B, process tracing reconstructs the causal mechanisms behind private and corporate climate litigation, compiled into a second Chain of Impact Report (COI-R).

  6. Output

    Open-access database

    All research outputs — ICICs, ACICs, COI-Reports and supporting materials — integrated into an open-access database, designed to visualize impact pathways, map connections between cases and clusters, and enable cross-referencing across jurisdictions and case types.

The roadmap evolves as the project advances — follow Climpact Radar for milestone updates, intermediate findings and open calls.

Climpact Radar