Newsletters
January/February Newsletter
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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 February 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). 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!
Litigation Interviews Ongoing: As part of our work researching how to make climate justice more child/youth friendly, we are now conducting interviews with lawyers, young litigants, and judges in Oceania. If you would like to participate — or know someone who would like to — please contact PI Aoife at aoife.daly@ucc.ie
Postpaternalism Research Workshop with Former Young Advisors: We started 2026 with an online research workshop on postpaternalism with children from five continents. The young people shared their views on what postpaternalism looks like to them, contributing to the development of this evolving children's rights theory. Postpaternalism (Daly et al, 2024) is the theory that underpins the YCJ project, hypothesising that children and youth are engaging in grassroots action - for the first time on a global scale - on the climate crisis; and children's rights has to be approached differently because of this.
Canada fieldwork: Our project, in collaboration with Canadian Newa Guthi, is about to implement its second case study in Canada from April to June 2026. Dr. Nabin Maharjan (Postdoctoral Researcher) will research the views and experiences of children and from Newar community in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) via art-based workshops and an intergenerational art exhibition.
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
Community Law and Mediation Centre and others v. Ireland: The Irish constitutional climate case was scheduled to be heard on 26 January but has been postponed. Further updates on a new hearing date are expected in due course.
Lighthiser v. Trump: The youth plaintiffs have filed an appeal against the dismissal of their case in late 2025, seeking to revive their federal challenge to the rollback of climate protections.
Aurora (Swedish youth climate case): The Aurora plaintiffs have relaunched their case, drawing on lessons from recent international developments, including European Court of Human Rights climate jurisprudence (notably KlimaSeniorinnen judgment) and the International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion. Read more here.
Natalie R. v. Utah / Roberts v. Department of Natural Resources, Board of Oil, Gas, & Mining: The Natalie R. v. Utah plaintiffs are back with a second case, challenging state approvals for fossil fuel development and alleging violations of youths’ constitutional rights. Read more here.
In each newsletter, we try to include some climate facts for our younger audience😊If you or someone you know would like to contribute, please let us know.
Mexican axolotl salamanders are amphibians that are critically endangered. They are very special creatures and masters of regeneration. They can regrow limbs, hearts, and even parts of their brains without scarring. Some scientists believe they may hold the secret to evolution! Learn more here.
Law and the Environment 2026 & Postgraduate Research Symposium on Environmental Law (University College Cork): Call for Papers now open for two linked events taking place in April 2026. The 22nd annual Law and the Environment Conference, “Consolidation in Environmental Law”, will be held on Thursday 23 April, alongside the 16th annual Postgraduate Research Symposium on Environmental Law on Wednesday 22 April. The Symposium offers a friendly, informal and inclusive space for postgraduate researchers to present and discuss their work and connect with peers. More information and calls here and here.
Article: General Comment 26 on ‘Children’s Rights and the Environment With a Special Focus on Climate Change’: Its potential for human rights climate change litigation in South Africa, by Faranaaz Veriava and Motheo Brodie.
Article: A Continuum of Responsibility: An Examination of the Human Right to a Healthy Environment of Present and Future Generations, by Sarah Dávila.
Article: Climate Change, Child Health and Children’s Rights: From Inequality to Inequity, by Laura Reali and Ann De Guchtenaere.
Article: Young People as a Boundary Object for Non-Consensus Community Organizing Toward Transformative Climate Justice, by Allison Guerette.
Article: "The way I channel my anxiety is through my activism”: Young Climate Activists, Storytelling, and the Emotion Culture of Cultivated Hope, by Ann Ward.
Blog: How listening to African children can advance access to justice in the climate crisis, by Liesl Muller.
Blog: What kind of leader are you? Children’s leading role in climate action, by Katie Reid.
Book: Climate Change and Children's Rights in Zimbabwe. Toward Social Policy-Based Interventions, edited by Emmanuel Ndhlovu and Clement Chipenda.
Book chapter: In Search of the Protection of Children’s (Environmental) Rights Within the Framework of the Constitutional Right to a Healthy Environment in Cameroon, by Jean-Claude Ashukem.
Book chapter: Framing Climate Justice from a Youth Perspective: Intersectional Activism in Uganda, by Antje Daniel.
Book chapter: Youth Engagement for Climate Action: the Case of the SAUTI-Youth Project in Tanzania, by Evench Gomes, Kathy Reilly, Una Murray, Aidan Sinnott and Maurice Sadlier.
Book chapter: Prefigurative Politics in Action: Youth Climate Activism and Arendt’s Politics of New Beginnings, by Turkan Firinci Orman.
Handbook: Climate Justice for Children and Youth, by Lawyers for Human Rights and Terre des Hommes.