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Chapter 13 - A Legal Perspective on Judicial Remedies to Respond to Young People’s Climate Distress

from Part II - Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Youth Climate Distress

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 June 2024

By
Andrea Rodgers  and
Kelsey Dunn
Edited by
Elizabeth Haase  and
Kelsey Hudson
Elizabeth Haase
Affiliation:
University of Nevada, Reno
Kelsey Hudson
Affiliation:
Climate Psychology Alliance North America
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Summary

Young people are increasingly impacted by the effects of the climate crisis, which are causing significant mental health harms. They are aware that government policies and decision-making have furthered reliance on fossil fuels, even in the face of the known dangers of climate change. To protect their human rights and future well-being, young people are turning to courts to hold their governments accountable for protecting their rights to a life-sustaining climate. Some courts around the world are granting young people access to seek remedies, while in other places, including the United States, such access is still denied. While access to justice is vital, young people have yet to see courts use the best available climate science as the basis for defining and protecting their rights. This article explores the obstacles young people face today in seeking and obtaining legal remedies, identifies human rights that are implicated by the climate crisis, and discusses why access to courts is a crucial aspect of the quest for a legally binding, science-based legal remedy for climate change that protects the rights of young people.

Keywords

institutional betrayallegal remedybest available sciencehuman rightsaccess to justiceconstitutional rightsyouth plaintiffsdissenting opinionclimate change
Type
Chapter
Information
Climate Change and Youth Mental Health
Multidisciplinary Perspectives
 , pp. 251 - 268
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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