Legal Mobilisation Revisited: Analysing Human Rights Litigation for Climate Justice
Research Question
What are the promises and pitfalls of promoting climate justice through human rights litigation?
Project Description
The project provides a comprehensive socio-legal examination of the potential and limitations of human rights litigation as a tool to promote climate justice. Through a multi-faceted analysis of the rights-based climate cases that have been litigated thus far, it aims to produce a new framework that may reconcile potentially conflicting rights within and across jurisdictions, whilst strengthening the agency of affected communities. It is important to do so, not only because of the societal considerations, but also because of academic necessity. Whilst various recent studies have highlighted the potential of rights-based climate litigation, we have only very limited understanding of its true effectiveness (and indeed its potential drawbacks) in addressing climate change.
Selected Publications
1) Margaretha Wewerinke-Singh, ‘State Responsibility, Climate Change and Human Rights under International Law’ (Hart Publishing, 2019)
2) Margaretha Wewerinke-Singh, ‘Remedies for Human Rights Violations Caused by Climate Change’ 9(3) Climate Law (2019)
3) Margaretha Wewerinke-Singh and Diana Salili, ‘From Negotiations to Litigation: Vanuatu’s Perspective on Loss and Damage from Climate Change’ Climate Policy (f2019)