Accelerating Climate Justice: Key Lessons from Roundtables with Experts in Youth-Focused Litigation

As the climate crisis deepens and in the face of flailing global governance, young generations are increasingly turning to courts to advocate for their right to a healthy environment. Traditionally viewed as mechanisms of 'last resort', courts are evolving into 'first responders'—actionable spaces where youth can effectively assert their rights. Unlike adults, young people often face significant barriers to engaging in political processes. Children sit outside most accountability processes, such as democratic elections or international human rights complaints mechanisms.  Nonetheless, they will be impacted harder and for longer than the adult politicians and decision-makers who are failing to protect them. These barriers leave them with limited avenues to champion their interests or challenge systemic injustices that will disproportionately affect their futures.

In April and December 2024, two roundtables were held at King's College London on 'Accelerating Climate Solutions Through Youth-Focused Litigation', in collaboration with Our Children's Trust, Generations Together, and the World Council of Churches. The discussions explored innovative legal approaches, strategic actions, and remedies, aiming to expand global collaboration among academics, experts, advocates, and practitioners.

This blog post explores some of the key lessons, recommendations, and next steps that emerged from the roundtables and the formal report.

The Rise of Youth-Led Climate Litigation

The past few years have witnessed a significant increase in climate change litigation led by young people. Recent landmark cases such as Held v. State of Montana (2023), Neubauer et al v. Germany (2021), and Duarte Agostinho v. Portugal  (2024) illustrate the critical role young people play in asserting rights for future generations. These cases not only seek to hold governments accountable but also aim to establish robust legal precedents for climate justice and the protection of fundamental human rights.

In the Montana case, Judge Kathy Seeley delivered a groundbreaking decision in favour of 16 young plaintiffs, affirming their constitutional rights to a clean and healthy environment. Judge Seeley stated that 'every additional ton of GHG emissions exacerbates plaintiffs' injuries and risks locking in irreversible climate injuries.' Similarly, in Neubauer, the Court ruled that the challenged Federal Climate Change Act (Bundesklimaschutzgesetz) was inadequate and ordered revisions to strengthen emissions reduction targets. Although Duarte Agostinho  was inadmissible on procedural grounds, it brought significant international attention to the issues of States' extraterritorial obligations and the intersection of children's rights and environmental law.

Lessons Learnt from the Roundtables

1. The Need for Legal Innovation

Roundtable participants emphasised the need for legal innovation to bridge existing domestic legislative gaps and adapt to complexities posed by jurisdictional challenges. Strengthening legal frameworks is essential for enabling courts to effectively act as 'first-responders'.

To safeguard and advocate for young people's environmental rights, systemic reform and innovative legal strategies are essential. Effective legal innovation requires leveraging international jurisprudence to address domestic legislative deficiencies while managing jurisdictional complexities. It also involves understanding how the framing and scope of claims can significantly influence their prospects of success and how these factors vary across different legal systems. Successfully advancing youth-led climate change litigation depends on effectively managing these jurisdictional complexities and applying international frameworks domestically. International legal instruments, such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child and advisory opinions from bodies like the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, can play a crucial role in bridging these gaps, strengthening the legal foundation for action, and advancing intergenerational equity.

2. Safeguarding the Interests of Youth Plaintiffs in Litigation

Ensuring that claims can be heard in domestic courts and developing effective legal strategies must go hand-in-hand with safeguarding the participation of young people in litigation. Without adequate protections, their meaningful involvement cannot be achieved.

Youth participation in litigation necessitates tailored safeguards to protect their well-being. Roundtable participants explored the impact of such involvement on youth and emphasised the need for consistent safeguards. Currently, there appears to be significant variation in how litigators involve children in legal proceedings (Nolan and Skelton 2022). Achieving uniform safeguards requires a critical reassessment of the methodologies employed by litigators and advocates, particularly in their interactions with youth plaintiffs. Actively incorporating the perspectives of young participants ensures their engagement is substantive rather than merely symbolic, allowing them to have meaningful input in the litigation process.

Legal proceedings are often lengthy and exhausting, marked by both successes and setbacks. Young people must be prepared and supported throughout this journey, with clear communication playing a crucial role in maintaining trust in the legal process and fostering transparency. This transparency helps ensure young participants retain their sense of agency throughout proceedings. Honest communication about case prospects is crucial; young plaintiffs must be adequately prepared for possible unfavourable outcomes, enabling them to manage expectations realistically.

"Ensuring that claims can be heard in domestic courts and developing effective legal strategies must go hand-in-hand with safeguarding young people's participation in litigation."

3. Remedies Must Translate into Impact

Cases do not conclude with a judgment; substantial work remains in the implementation phase, which is essential for realising the judgment's intended impact. To maximise this impact, advocates must carefully consider and demand adequate and effective remedies.

Participants of the roundtables emphasised the need for lawyers to confidently pursue innovative remedies beyond traditional compensation. Advocates were encouraged to consider preventative measures, such as revising legislation to reflect the latest scientific developments. Broader compensation concepts, including funding for activities that benefit affected communities, were also suggested as impactful strategies for achieving meaningful justice.

One notable example is the settlement agreement in Navahine F. v. Hawai'i Department of Transportation. This agreement not only mandates Hawai'i to decarbonise its transportation system by 2045 but also requires the establishment of a Youth Advisory Board to provide the state with ongoing advice.

Some Recommendations

Building on these findings, the roundtables concluded with several key recommendations:

• To maximise the impact of youth-focused climate litigation, it is essential to strengthen collaboration among practitioners, academics, NGOs, and funders. Establishing networks for sharing knowledge, replicating successes, and pooling resources is crucial.
• Systemic change requires explicit recognition of youth rights in both international treaties and domestic laws, ensuring young people have meaningful roles in decision-making processes.
• Raising awareness about climate litigation beyond litigants and legal practitioners is critical to empowering affected communities with knowledge of legal tools to combat climate change.
• The judiciary must be better equipped to effectively handle scientific evidence, ensuring decisions are informed by robust and accurate data.
• Lawsuits should target not only governments but also hold corporations accountable, actively seeking remedies against companies contributing to climate change.

 
Young people have the right to assert their agency and contribute to the fight for environmental justice. However, the burden of achieving systemic change must not fall solely on their shoulders. Achieving intergenerational equity cannot be achieved by loading responsibilities onto the young while adults and institutions abdicate their roles. It demands shared accountability across generations, ensuring sustainable and impactful actions to safeguard the planet.

Directions of Travel

Looking forward, the roundtables identified two compelling directions of travel. The first is holding non-state actors accountable in both civil and criminal law, particularly highlighting the responsibility of companies and financial institutions that perpetuate and finance polluting projects causing foreseeable future environmental harm affecting youth rights. The second is effectively translating creative remedies into actionable outcomes.

This project will continue focusing on these important and emerging topics by convening experts, fostering conversations, drafting recommendations and action plans, and advocating for systemic change.

Conclusion

The rise of youth-focused climate change litigation underscores a significant shift toward recognising the rights and agency of children and youth concerning environmental policy, law, and the climate crisis. By taking legal action, these young plaintiffs advocate for their futures and set precedents capable of reshaping global climate change and environmental law and policy globally to benefit future generations. Their involvement demonstrates the urgency of the climate crisis, emphasising intergenerational impacts and the immediate need for action.

Authors:

Professor Megan Bowman is a full Professor of Law and founding Director of the King's Centre for Climate Law & Governance at King's College London. Professor Bowman is a member of the International Expert Group (UK) of BIICL's Global Toolbox on Corporate Climate Litigation.

Professor Jenny Driscoll is Professor of Children's Rights in the School of Education, Communication and Society at King's College London and a former Family Law barrister.

Franka Pues is a doctoral candidate in International Criminal Law and a Research Assistant on a project led by Professor Jenny Driscoll and Professor Megan Bowman, examining children's rights and climate change litigation.