Litigating the Climate Emergency: How Human Rights, Courts, and Legal Mobilization Can Bolster Climate Action

Abstract

As the climate crisis intensifies and becomes acutely visible, promising responses have been developed by scientists, advocates, and scholars around the world. Mobilizations such as #FridaysforFuture and Extinction Rebellion are converging with Indigenous peoples' movements and other social justice movements to convey the urgency and the scale needed for climate action. Reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, informed by developments in attribution science, establish more precise links between greenhouse gas emissions, extreme weather events, and human impacts. In the meantime, collaborations between scientists and journalists have drawn the broader public's attention to detailed information about the magnitude of planet-warming emissions associated with the activities of major fossil fuel companies