Climate Litigation And Justice In Africa

EPDF and EPUB available Open Access under CC-BY-NC-ND licence. This volume brings together an international team of contributors to provide a much-needed examination of climate litigation in Africa. The book outlines how climate litigation in Africa is distinct as well as pinpointing where it connects with the global conversation.

This ground-breaking volume provides analyses from experts around the globe on the part played by national and international law, through legislation and the courts, in advancing efforts to tackle climate change, and what needs to be done in the future. Published under the auspices of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law (BIICL), the volume builds on an event convened at BIICL, which brought together academics, legal practitioners and NGO representatives. The volume offers not only the insights from that event, but also additional materials, sollicited to offer the reader a more complete picture of how climate change litigation is evolving in a global perspective, highlighting both opportunities, and constraints.

Populations in Africa are vulnerable to both the direct and indirect adverse effects of climate change that are of human rights significance. The urgency for states in Africa to implement climate interventions while they face developmental challenges, however, raises questions of ‘justice’ or ‘fairness’ between the developed and the developing states. Consequently, interrogating how the human rights paradigm may respond to negative implications of climate change and its ‘fairness’ is important as states continue to engage with the climate change standard setting. This edited volume critically interrogates human rights paradigm as an intervention to secure climate change justice for vulnerable populations; analyses regional protection against human rights consequences of climate change; and assesses emerging interventions based on domestic regulatory frameworks on climate change in selected states in Africa.

This book is based on the acknowledgment that climate change is a multifaceted challenge that requires action on the part of all stakeholders, including civil society, and the notion that climate change is at a tipping point with urgent measures needed in the next decade. Against this background, civil society is turning its attention to the courts as a means to directly influence climate action, partly because of the global scepticism towards the progress of global climate action, despite the ongoing implementation of the Paris Agreement. Focusing on the individual, broadly representing civil society, the book offers fresh perspectives on climate change litigation. While most of the literature on climate change litigation examines the same specific jurisdictions, mostly common law countries (US and Australia in particular), this book also considers specific countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America with little or no climate change litigation. It explores the reasons for the lack of litigation and discusses what measures should or could be taken to change this situation and push forward climate action. Unlike other literature on the subject, this book analyses climate change litigation using a scenario-based methodology. Combining rigorous academic analysis with a practical policy-oriented focus, the book provides valuable insights for a wide range of stakeholders interested in climate change litigation. It appeals to civil society organisations around the world, international organisations and law firms interested in climate change litigation.

Softbound - New, softbound print book.

This book examines how litigation over climate change shapes the choices of governments, corporations and the public regarding mitigation and adaptation.

Climate change is one of the central challenges facing African countries and their people. Unless concerted efforts are made worldwide very soon to reduce emissions, climate change impacts are likely to be devastating. Higher-end temperature scenarios present a dark future jeopardizing secure access to basic needs such as water, food, housing and a healthy environment, as well as adding to the stressors on natural resources. Those who will suffer the most from the challenges posed by climate change have contributed the least to the problem in the first place: the poor and vulnerable, especially in developing countries. To make matters worse, these are the same people who have benefited the least from modernisation and industrialisation and have a relatively small carbon footprint. This is a double injustice. While climate justice and social justice are difficult to disentangle, neither the legal systems nor the main actors framing the dominant climate change narratives seem sufficiently attentive to the double-edged justice questions posed by the impacts of climate change on poor communities. This book fills some of the gaps in climate change scholarship by focusing on the climate narratives emerging in and around South Africa - how they relate to broader issues of social justice and resource allocation, and the role of rights talk and legal strategies in the framing of the problems and solutions. In doing so, the book contributes to developing rights- and justice-based strategies for translating knowledge into action.

This book approaches environmental, climate, and social justice comprehensively and interlinked. The contributors, predominantly from the Global South and have lived experiences, challenge the eurocentrism that dominates knowledge production and discourses on environmental and climate [in] justices. The collection of works balances theoretical, empirical, and practical aspects to address environmental and climate justice challenges through the lens of social justice. This book gives voice to scholars of the Global South and uses an interdisciplinary approach to show the complexity of the problem and the opportunities for solutions, making this book a powerful resource in teaching, research, and advocacy efforts. The innovativeness of this approach stems from the use of narratives, scientific explanation, and thematic analysis to present the arguments in each chapter of this edited book. Overall, each chapter of this book acts as a powerful resource in teaching, research, and advocacy efforts. This book fills a gap in the Global South production of environmental, climate, and social justice. It provides in-depth knowledge to the readers and raises their critical thinking about key elements/discussions of justice issues of environmental conflicts and climate change. The book is a useful read to a general audience interested in the topic of climate, environment, and development politics.