Benson and

Benson and one of his colleagues, Sebastian Bechtel, both stress that the cases taking place now only challenge a fraction of environmental destruction that is happening around the world. Many activists do not have the financial resources to take on big corporations. "A lot of countries do not want to bring these claims," Bechtel says. "In the UK, those relate primarily to costs. In other countries, it's simply not possible to go to court to enforce specific laws."