Newsletters
September 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 September 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 month's newsletter has been led by YCJ Research Assistant Lucy Walsh. For more about the project and our team, feel free to visit our website. You can also watch the recordings of our online research forums here!
If you have any events, publications, or opportunities you’d like featured in the September edition, please email youthclimatejustice@ucc.ie by October 15th with ‘Research Network Newsletter’ in the subject line.
Project News
Litigation Interviews Ongoing: As part of our work researching how to make climate justice more child/youth friendly, we are conducting interviews with lawyers, young litigants, and judges in Europe. If you would like to participate — or know someone who would like to — please contact PI Aoife at aoife.daly@ucc.ie
Canada Fieldwork: Dr. Nabin Maharjan (Postdoctoral Researcher) is in 2025-2026 leading art workshops with children and youth in Canada. The Youth Climate Justice project is collaborating with Nepalese-Canadian NGO Canadian Newa Guthi as a local partner. Nabin will gather views and stories through photovoice and drawings to explore their experiences as climate advocates, and the significance of their action for children’s rights. The project will end with an art exhibition showcasing the creative works.
Social media: Do you follow us? Catch up with project news as it happens by following us on:
LinkedIn - youthclimatejustice@ucc.ie;
X (Twitter) - youthclimatejustice@ucc.ie; and
Instagram - youthclimatej
Youth Climate Applications/Litigation
Dunn v Wisconsin Public Service Commission: Fifteen youth from Wisconsin, ages 8 to 17, have filed a constitutional climate lawsuit against the Wisconsin Public Service Commission and Legislature, arguing that state laws promoting fossil fuels and blocking renewable energy violate their rights to life, liberty, and access to clean water. The suit seeks to strike down these statutes and restore regulators’ ability to address climate pollution and enable decarbonisation, with no financial compensation sought. Read more here.
Mbabazi v AG (Uganda): The case is finally being heard/was heard in court on 15 September after more than ten years of delays. It was launched by four children and Greenwatch, a local Ugandan non-governmental organisation, in 2012. The complainants allege that Uganda has violated its duty to protect the country’s natural resources, including the atmosphere, by not addressing climate change. They want a court order directing the state to account accurately for nationwide greenhouse gas emissions and to develop a plan to mitigate those emissions. Read more here.
Lighthiser v Trump (USA): The case was launched in May 2025 by 22 youth plaintiffs between the ages of 7 and 25, who are challenging the constitutionality of Trump's energy executive orders, which they say will slow the development of clean energy infrastructure and increase use of fossil fuels, as well as “dismantle[e] the climate science and climate change warning infrastructure of the Nation.” A preliminary hearing on 16 – 17 September will hear the plaintiffs' motion for preliminary injunction and the defendants' anticipated motion to dismiss. The Montana District Court (the same court that ruled in favour of the youth plaintiffs in Held v Montana) will hear the plaintiffs’ live testimony supporting a request for an order to stop the implementation of these unconstitutional executive orders pending the outcome of the case. The federal; 19 states and Guam have joined to oppose the youth plaintiffs. Read more here.
Climate facts!
In each newsletter, we try to include some climate facts for our younger audience😊
Not only do octopuses have 8 legs, but they also have 3 hearts! Part of the Cephalopoda class, they are among the most intelligent invertebrates with a very complex nervous system comprising over 500 million neurons (2/3rds of these neurons in their arms). They can change form and colours, use their arms and tentacles to open jars, and create their homes from little cervices or even a coconut shell. They have been around for more than 300 million years, dating back to the time before dinosaurs!
There are some fascinating reads and shows out there where you can learn more about these incredible creatures of the sea. For example, the book ‘Other Minds: The Octopus and the Evolution of Intelligent Life’ by Peter Godfrey-Smith and documentary on Netflix called ‘My Octopus Teacher’.
Open Calls and Events
Online Book Launch: 22 October 1pm GMT+1, Youth Climate Justice project event (with our partners at the University of Stockholm): 'Treated Like a Child: Age Discrimination and Children’s Rights' (Brill). This event considers discrimination against children, including in the climate crisis. Register here.
Hybrid event: On the Frontlines: Environmental Defenders in a Turbulent World | 26 September | 10:00-11:00 CET| Brussels and online. This event will include a dialogue and exchange of ideas on how legal empowerment, transnational collaboration, and solidarity can contribute to strengthening defenders’ rights and shaping a more just and sustainable future for all. See more information here and register here.
Webinar: Climate Justice at the ICJ: Human Rights Implications of the Advisory Opinion. 29 September 2025 | 15:00-16:30 CET | Online. On 23 July 2025, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) delivered its Advisory Opinion on Human Rights and Climate Change, affirming that States have legal obligations to prevent significant harm to the climate system under human rights law, treaty law, and customary international law. This webinar will bring together leading experts to discuss how the ICJ’s Advisory Opinion reframes states’ climate obligations through a human rights lens, and what this means for climate justice, advocacy, and future litigation. Register here.
Publications
Journal Article: Youth Climate Justice project publication! 'Child/Youth Climate Litigation: Tracking Children’s Rights and Children’s Impact' by Aoife Daly and Liesl Muller.
Book Chapter: Chapter 2 The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 2, and Discrimination on the Basis of Childhood: The CRC Paradox? in: Treated Like a Child, by Aoife Daly.
Briefing: Briefing: Environmental degradation, climate change and genocide in Gaza — CRIN.
Journal Article: Weathering the storm: youth vulnerability and resilience during the climate crisis | npj Climate Action, by John A Pollock.
Journal Article: Effects of Solutions Centered Climate Education on Youth Beliefs and Behaviors: The University of California’s Bending the Curve Course, by Ananya R Gupta, Satish Jaiswal, Suzanna Purpura, Seth Dizon, Markus Buan, Fatima Dong, Fonna Forman and Jyoti Mishra.
Journal Article: Heated discussions: youth-led dialogue with older generations reveals unwitting silences and shared feelings about climate change - ScienceDirect, by Charlotte Earl-Jones, Aidan Davison and Chloe Lucas.
Blogpost: Youth Power is Steering the Future of Electric Transportation in Hawai‘i — Our Children's Trust, by Our Children’s Trust.
Journal Article: Litigating for the Future: Rights-based Argumentation in Future Generations Climate Litigation , by Nina Koistinen.
Article: Briefing: Environmental degradation, climate change and genocide in Gaza — CRIN, by Children’s Rights International Network.