Newsletters
May Newsletter
This newsletter was first sent by email to the members of our Research Network. If you would like to be part of it, sign up here.
Hello and welcome to the May edition of our Youth Climate Justice Research Network newsletter!
This network is supported by the Youth Climate Justice project at University College Cork. The project is led by Prof. Aoife Daly and funded by the European Research Council (ERC). The network thrives thanks to your active participation and collaboration. This newsletter is prepared by Florencia Paz Landeira. For more about the project and our team, feel free to visit our website. You can also watch the recordings of all of our online research forums here!
If you have any events, publications, or opportunities you’d like featured in the March edition, please email youthclimatejustice@ucc.ie by June 13th with ‘Research Network Newsletter’ in the subject line.
Project News
Child/Youth Participation, Climate Action, and Success in a Climate Case: On May 21 (1:30 p.m.–4:30 p.m. Ireland/UK time), the Youth Climate Justice project (University College Cork) jointly with the Sabin Centre (Columbia University) will host an online event exploring how children and young people are shaping climate litigation around the world. Featuring academics, practitioners, and youth litigants, this half-day gathering will discuss strategies for meaningful youth engagement, new insights from social research, and how to define “success” in climate litigation beyond legal victories. See more and join here.
Alongside this event, at the Youth Climate Justice project, we are currently interviewing lawyers (sign up here), young litigants (sign up here), and judges and others (sign up here) to better understand how legal systems can support young people in the fight for climate justice. Please help us by taking part or sharing these links!
New article summary—Children, Climate & Time: In March, our Post-Doctoral Researcher Dr Florencia Paz Landeira published “Temporalities in Crisis: Analysing the Sacchi v. Argentina Case and Children’s Rights in the Climate Emergency” in Children & Society. We have just released an accessible blog summary that unpacks the article’s core idea: climate justice is also a matter of temporal justice. The piece explores three overlapping temporalities children face—urgency, slow violence, and intergenerational reach—and argues that legal delay itself can violate their rights. It closes with four concrete recommendations for speeding up climate action to match the pace of the crisis. Read the summary and find the link to the full article here.
Youth Climate Applications/Litigation
Mathur v. Ontario (Canada): On 1 May 2025, the Supreme Court of Canada rejected Ontario’s bid to appeal the youth plaintiffs’ October 2024 victory at the Ontario Court of Appeal. The decision confirms that provincial climate-target laws must comply with the Charter and sends the case back to the Ontario Superior Court to determine remedies for the government’s rights-violating emissions target. The seven applicants—aged 17-25—hail the ruling as clearing the path to a final judgment on their constitutional claims. More info here.
Climate facts!
In honour of Sir David Attenborough’s 99th birthday this month and the release of his latest documentary, this edition of the YCJ Newsletter will share some facts about the thing that covers 70% of the planet: Oceans.
Seagrass, which makes up 10% of the ocean’s capacity to store carbon, can capture carbon 35 times more efficiently than rainforests
- Approximately 70% of the oxygen we breathe every day comes from the ocean, mostly phytoplankton and cyanobacteria
- About 2,000 new marine species are discovered each year
The oceans that cover our planet are our biggest ally in the fight against the triple planetary crisis. Protecting and restoring the magical life below waves is incredibly important to improve biodiversity and ensure food security for generations to come.
Open Calls and Events
Children’s Rights Online Lecture Series – Session 2: Climate Justice & Children’s Litigation
22 May 2025, 18:00 CET (free, online). Dr Florencia Paz Landeira will examine child and youth climate litigation through a temporal lens. The talk forms part of the bilingual (Spanish and English) lecture cycle co-hosted by the Centro de Estudios Constitucionales of Mexico’s Supreme Court and Leiden Law School, coordinated by Nicolás Espejo Yaksic and Ton Liefaard. Register here.
Pedagogy & Practice for Climate Change in Early Childhood Education — Journal of Childhood, Education & Society (Thematic Issue 2026)
The editors invite 400–500-word proposals on how climate change can be taught, researched and experienced in early-childhood settings. Empirical studies, critical theory, and methodological or cross-disciplinary pieces are welcome. Email your abstract to jces.editorial@gmail.com—subject line “JCES Thematic Issue: Climate Change in Early Childhood Education.” Deadline: 15 Nov 2025. More info here.
1st European Association of Climate Law Conference — Call for Abstracts
Climate Law in Europe: Taking Stock, Looking Forward convenes in Berlin, 22–23 Sep 2025. Day 1 hosts an Early Career Researcher Workshop on intergenerational justice; Day 2 offers general panels on European climate law, litigation, corporate accountability, and cross-cutting legal questions. Submit a 300-word abstract via the online form for either the workshop or the general session by 31 May 2025 (decisions 30 Jun). An Early Career Researcher Award will be presented for the best paper. More info here.
Draft General Comment No. 27 on Children’s Right to Access to Justice and an Effective Remedy — UN Committee on the Rights of the Child
The CRC invites all stakeholders—scholars, practitioners, child-led groups—to comment on its draft General Comment clarifying children’s right to seek justice and remedies when their rights are violated. Submissions should offer concrete wording changes or practical examples and must be sent to the Committee by 30 Jun 2025 (18:00 CET). Full details and the draft text are available here.
X Tarragona International Environmental Law Colloquium (TIEC)
Shadows of Strife: The Role of Environmental Law in Safeguarding People and the Environment in Times of Conflict takes place 29–30 May 2025 at the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (Tarragona, Spain) and online. More info here.
Right Here, Right Now Global Climate Summit
The University of Oxford, in partnership with UN Human Rights and the International Universities Climate Alliance, will host a hybrid summit on 4–7 Jun 2025. A 24-hour global plenary will stream live on 5 Jun (World Environment Day), while Oxford and partner universities worldwide hold local climate-justice events from 2–6 Jun. More info here.
Publications
Article: “Small Voices, Big Stakes: Why children’s environmental health must be at the heart of global policies”, by Kitty van der Heijden Abheet Solomon, & Caroline den Dulk.
Article: “‘You can't live in fear all the time’: Affective dilemmas in Youth's discussions on climate change in Norway”, by Christian A. P. Haugestad & Erik Carlquist
Article: “Toward transformative youth climate justice: Why youth agency is important and six critical areas for transformative youth activism, policy, and research”, by Ralph Tafon & Fred Saunders.
Article: “Young people’s conceptions of political agency in relation to climate change”, by Dora Rebelo, Tânia R. Santos, Ana Dias Garcia, Anabela Carvalho, Carla Malafaia & Maria Fernandes-Jesus.
Article: “Experiencing Climate Change and Living Through It—Provocations for Education Based on South African Youth Experiences of Climate Change Policymaking and Politics”, by Tyler Booth and Harriet Thew.