Promises of climate litigation for climate justice

Abstract

The raise of climate litigation in many parts of the world highlights how people are increasingly turning to the courts to hold governments and the private sector accountable, transforming litigation into a key mechanism for ensuring climate action. However, this contribution questions to what extent climate litigation can be a valid tool for achieving climate justice, as a response to the challenges posed by climate change for many populations in the Global South, in situations of multidimensional vulnerability, and who have contributed the least to the climate crisis. In this regard, only some cases of climate litigation prove to be promising in addressing climate injustices, through the complaints made extraterritorially by vulnerable populations from the Global South in the pursuit not only of the corresponding responsibilities of industrialized countries or their companies, but also of the necessary reparations to protect their rights against the unequal impacts of climate change. The rethinking of states’ extraterritorial jurisdiction in the context of climate change, recognizing their control over the climate source, can bridge the gap between emitters and individuals affected by climate change for the achievement of climate justice.