Newsletters
November 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.
Project News
Last month, our team published its keystone article outlining postpaternalism theory. The full article is open access, and you can read it here. We have also prepared an article’s summary, which you can access here.
The PI of the project, Prof. Aoife Daly, has just published an article titled Child and Youth Friendly Justice for the Climate Crisis: Relying on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. This article appears in the latest issue of The International Journal of Children’s Rights, edited by Connor O’Mahony. This special issue is the result of the 2023 Research Workshop organised by the Centre for Children’s Rights and Family Law at the School of Law, University College Cork.
The Youth Climate Justice team is also conducting a research project about Climate Litigation Involving Children and Youth. Some of the questions we want to explore are:
- How do children, young people and adults work together in climate justice cases?
- How are courts reacting to this new wave of climate cases involving children and young people?
- How do lawyers and judges think about children’s rights in these cases?
- What does this trend of youth-led climate action mean for children’s rights around the world?
You can find more information and the open call for participants here.
Next Online Research Forum
Our next online research forum will be on Thursday, November 28th 2pm (UTC). Aoife Nolan will be presenting on ‘Democracy through the Courts? Children and Future Generations’ Rights in Climate Justice Litigation’.
Aoife Nolan is Professor of International Human Rights Law and Director of the Human Rights Law Centre at the University of Nottingham. Her professional experience in human rights and constitutional law straddles the legal, policy, practitioner and academic fields. She is President of the Council of Europe's European Committee of Social Rights. Professor Nolan has acted as an expert advisor to a wide range of international and national entities working on human rights issues, including the Council of Europe, UN treaty bodies, UN Special Procedures and the World Bank. She recently served as an advisor to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child on its General Comment No.26 on children’s rights and the environment, as well as to the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on its forthcoming general comment on sustainable development and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. She is an Academic Expert member at Doughty Street Chambers, where she co-leads the Children’s Rights Group. Her current academic work focuses on future generations rights and children’s rights in the context of climate justice.
The recordings of our previous research forum are available here.
Youth Climate Applications/Litigation
Mathur v. Ontario: The Ontario Court of Appeal has ruled in favour of seven youth climate activists, finding that Ontario’s weak climate target violates the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, particularly the rights to life, security of the person, and equality. The Court has ordered a new hearing, requiring Ontario to justify its climate policies.
Greenpeace Nordic and Young Friends of the Earth Norway have decided to appeal to Norway's Supreme Court, seeking to block the development of three North Sea oil fields. This follows a recent court decision allowing the oil projects to proceed, despite their potential for significant climate impacts. The groups argue that emissions from these fields threaten public health and contribute to climate-related harm and are pushing for an injunction while the case moves forward in court. More details can be found here.
Publications
Article: Children and Future Generations Rights before the Courts: The Vexed Question of Definitions (Transnational Environmental Law), by Aoife Nolan.
Article: Putting children’s rights at the heart of strategic litigation practice (Solicitor’s Journal), by Aoife Nolan.
Article: Appraising the Impact of Environmental Pollution on Children’s Rights: The Role of Law (International Journal of Comparative Law and Legal Philosophy), by Chinazor Queen Umeobika & Godstime Nwaeze.
Article: Environmental Rights and the Impact of Climate Change within the Committee on the Rights of the Child Concluding Observation Reports (The International Journal of Children’s Rights), by Fiona MacDonald.
Article: Litigation by young people to hold governments to account for climate damage (BMJ Paediatrics Open), by Paul Rink, Claire O’Kane, William Myers, Jennifer Driscoll & Michael Bourdillon.
Article: Child and Youth Friendly Justice for the Climate Crisis: Relying on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (The International Journal of Children’s Rights), by Aoife Daly.
Article: School climate assemblies: an educational tool for empowering pupils and youth to take climate and sustainability action (Sustainability Science), by Gisela Cebrián, Anna Boqué, Jon Xavier Olano & Juan Prieto.
Article: “It Can't Just Be the Younger People”: Exploring Young Activists' Perspectives on Intergenerational Tensions and Solidarities for Climate Justice (Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology), by Carlie D. Trott.
Article: Conceptualizing just transition litigation (Nature Sustainability), by Annalisa Savaresi, Joana Setzer, Sam Bookman, Kim Bouwer, Tiffanie Chan, Isabela Keuschnigg, Chiara Armeni, Alexandra Harrington, Corina Heri, Ian Higham, Chris Hilson, Riccardo Luporini, Chiara Macchi, Linnéa Nordlander, Pedi Obani, Lauri Peterson, Andrea Schapper, Navraj Singh Ghaleigh, Maria Antonia Tigre & Margaretha Wewerinke-Singh.
Article: Is There a Human Right to a Healthy Climate? (Human Rights Magazine), by James R. May.
Book: Climate Rights: Cases and Contexts, by James R. May.
Book: Children as Change Makers. Unleashing Children’s Real Philanthropic Power, by Alison Body.
Book review: Youth Activism and Climate Policy: Exploring the Groundswell and Direct Approaches in Speaking Youth to Power (Speaking Youth to Power: Influencing Climate Policy at the United Nations, by Mark Terry, Cham, Switzerland, Palgrave Macmillan, 2023, 219 pp.), by Ratna Mutiarini ,Fadilla Annisa Harahap, Ferdinand Makonda, Nadya Amalia Putri Hapsari & Rio Sebastian.