Publications
Youth Climate Justice Publications
We aim to share the publications that have been produced during the project, browse our publications in this section.
Where possible, we make the full texts of our publications openly available. If you are unable to access the full texts of any of our publications, please contact us and we will send them to you.
| Category | Category | Keywords | Year | Title | Abstract | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Journal Article |
Journal Article | Postpaternalism; UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC); youth climate action; climate cases; right to a healthy environment. | 2024 |
Climate Action and the UNCRC: A ‘Postpaternalist’ World Where Children Claim Their Own Rights |
In this paper, it is argued that we are in a ‘postpaternalist’ era for children’s rights, involving grassroots action from children (for the first time, on a global scale) rather than well-meaning adults ‘giving’ children their rights. Child/youth climate action has involved under-18s acting for the environment through grassroots protest, media work and lobbying. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) has arguably to date been approached in a paternalist way, whereby children need adults to help them to access rights. Yet, child/youth climate advocates have taken their own action, and demand equality as they enter rights spaces. They are frequently working with adults as equals and allies in litigating climate cases, for example. It is argued that (although there are rights challenges in a postpaternalist time) these young rights leaders have transformed human rights for the better, and adults should facilitate their work in a way that is child- and youth-friendly. | More details Read publication |
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Journal Article |
Journal Article | Convention on the Rights of the Child, Youth climate activism, Climate crisis, Intergenerational justice, Environmental rights | 2024 |
Child and Youth Friendly Justice for the Climate Crisis: Relying on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child |
The climate crisis is a human rights crisis, and one of the worst affected groups is children and youth. This same group has been key to climate action in and outside of the courts. As well as engaging in numerous consultative fora such as cop, and in the introduction of a General Comment on the right of children to a healthy environment, they have gone on to become key litigators in climate cases/applications at both national and international level. These justice processes are, however, notoriously ill suited to the particular needs of children and youth. Child friendly justice is a concept which has been elaborated in recent years by the Council of Europe. Yet climate litigation is very different to the cases (e.g. in family law) in which children have traditionally been parties – amongst other things it can involve very public campaigns. This article considers child and youth friendly justice in the context of the climate crisis through the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and through the concepts of access, participation, interests, and judgments. | More details Read publication |