Newsletters
June Newsletter
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Hello and welcome to the June 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!
This newsletter is prepared by YCJ Postdoctoral Researcher Florencia Paz Landeira.
PROJECT NEWS
Canadian Fieldwork Concludes with Art Exhibition on World Environment Day: The YCJ project's Canadian fieldwork has come to a wonderful close! Led by Dr. Nabin Maharjan, the research brought together 30 young people aged 8–17 through a series of five participatory workshops, supported by an artist and photographer. Participants explored their own experiences of the climate crisis, environmental rights, and climate action through photography, paintings, and collages. The fieldwork culminated in an art exhibition and intergenerational exchange held on World Environment Day, 5 June 2026. Many thanks to our local partner Canadian Newa Guthi (CNG) for creating a welcoming and supportive space for this research. The project is now in the planning stage for upcoming fieldwork in Argentina and Ireland — stay tuned for further updates. Read more here.
YCJ at the University of Louvain: Connecting Climate Litigation Databases: YCJ Principal Investigator Prof. Aoife Daly recently travelled to the University of Louvain to meet Prof. Amandine Orsini and the CLAIM team, an initiative tracking climate litigation involving marginalised communities. PhD researcher Liesl Muller joined online for a panel with Dr. Corina Heri (VUB), who leads the Climate and Human Rights Litigation Database. The exchange brought together three databases with a shared mission: making climate litigation visible, accessible, and actionable. Key themes included establishing definitions that capture the specificity of youth climate cases, making legal resources accessible to researchers, lawyers, and litigants globally, and centering young climate advocates in international legal spaces. Explore the YCJ Case Law Database here.
New Book Chapter by PI Aoife Daly and Katie Reid: We are delighted to share the publication of a new book chapter, The Environmental Action of Children/Youth and its Impact on Human Rights Law, by YCJ Principal Investigator Prof. Aoife Daly, Katie Reid, and young climate advocates Bach and Āniva included in the Routledge Handbook of Young People’s Environmental Activism, edited By Sadiya Akram, Benjamin Bowman.
YOUTH CLIMATE LITIGATION/APLICATION
Mathur et al. v. Canada: Three young Canadians, alongside health and environmental organisations, launched a legal challenge against the federal government on 16 June 2026, arguing that Prime Minister Carney's administration no longer has a credible plan to meet Canada's legally binding 2030 climate target under the Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act. The applicants contend that key climate policies — covering oil and gas emissions, vehicle pollution, and carbon pricing — have been weakened or repealed without replacement, and are asking the court to compel the government to produce a transparent, legally compliant updated plan. Read more here.
Lighthiser v. Trump — Ninth Circuit Dismisses Youth Constitutional Climate Case: On 2 June 2026, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed this youth-led case brought by 22 young Americans challenging executive orders expanding fossil fuel production and suppressing climate science. The court did not rule on the constitutionality of the orders, holding instead that plaintiffs could not challenge them collectively in a single case. Issued as an "unpublished" decision, the ruling has been criticised for ignoring uncontested findings about ongoing harms to children's health. Attorneys are assessing all available legal options. Read the press release here.
Dunn v. Wisconsin Public Service Commission — Youth Plaintiffs File Appeal: On 28 May 2026, the fifteen Wisconsin youth plaintiffs filed their appeal against the April dismissal of their constitutional climate case, directly challenging the lower court's conclusion that the case raises a "nonjusticiable political question." The appeal argues that state laws barring regulators from considering greenhouse gas pollution when approving new fossil fuel plants cause real and ongoing constitutional harms to Wisconsin youth. Read the press release here.
Venner v. EPA — Youth Petitioners Seek Stay of Endangerment Finding Repeal: On 20 May 2026, eighteen young people asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to pause the EPA's repeal of the 2009 Endangerment Finding and vehicle greenhouse gas emission standards while their constitutional petition is litigated, arguing that without a stay, manufacturers will lock in gas-powered vehicles for the next 15 years in ways that cannot be undone. Read the press release here.
Held v. Montana II — Court Denies Attempt to Relocate Youth Climate Case: On 12 June 2026, a Montana judge denied the State's motion to transfer Held v. Montana II hundreds of miles away to a different county, ruling that Broadwater County — near the plaintiffs, witnesses, and the state capital where the challenged laws were enacted — is the proper venue. The decision allows the youth plaintiffs' challenge to 2025 amendments to the Montana Clean Air Act and Environmental Policy Act to move forward where it was originally filed. Read the press release here.
OPEN CALLS AND EVENTS
Accountability for Child Rights – Special Issue Call for Papers. International Journal of Human Rights. A special issue is seeking submissions on accountability mechanisms for children's rights, exploring how legal, political, and civic channels function in practice and how they can be strengthened. Topics include monitoring bodies, judicial remedies, barriers to accountability, and emerging areas like digital rights and climate justice. Interdisciplinary submissions are welcome, with particular encouragement for voices from the Global South and work co-authored with children and young people. Abstract deadline: 29 June 2026 (200 words + short bio, provisional title, and up to 6 keywords) Send to: F.Szloboda@sms.ed.ac.uk Full papers due: 11 January 2027. Enquiries: Fiona.Morrison@ed.ac.uk or F.Szloboda@sms.ed.ac.uk
Call for Abstracts: Workshop on Greening EU Values – Strategic Rights-Based Litigation and the European Green Deal (REVEL, Maynooth University) — REVEL, the Jean Monnet Centre for Excellence at Maynooth University, is organising a workshop examining how rights-based litigation can resist backsliding on the European Green Deal, taking place on 28 October 2026 in Maynooth, Ireland. Submissions are welcome from academics, legal practitioners, and civil society on topics including climate litigation, biodiversity, corporate accountability, and procedural environmental rights. Abstracts (300 words) to orla.kelleher@mu.ie. Deadline: 13 July 2026.
Call for Submissions: General Comment on the Right to Environment (African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights) — The African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights has opened a call for substantive input to inform the Draft Outline of its upcoming General Comment on the Right to Environment. This is a valuable opportunity for researchers, civil society organisations, and advocates — including those working on children's environmental rights — to contribute to the development of this important regional human rights instrument. More information and submission details here.
CLIMATE AND ENVIRONMENTAL FACTS
In each newsletter, we try to include some climate facts from/for our younger audience 😊 If you or someone you know would like to contribute, please let us know.
Did you know that octopuses have three hearts and blue blood? But here's the climate connection: as ocean temperatures rise due to climate change, octopuses and other sea creatures are being forced to migrate to cooler waters, disrupting the ecosystems they've been part of for millions of years. Learn more here.
PUBLICATIONS
Article: ‘It hurts when they don’t listen to you’: young people’s perceptions, emotions, and experiences engaging in youth-led climate activism, by Daniella Bendo, Gabrielle Gooch & Stefania Maggi
Article: From Climate Policy to Practice: Strengthening Accountability and Governance Reform through Youth Participation in the Local Government Elections, by Angela Khumalo.
Article: The Climate Crisis and Reporting Under the Convention on the Rights of the Child: Opportunities for Developing Countries?, by David W. Patterson.
Book: Youth and Earth Politics. From Misconceptions to Potential for Synergy, by Amendine Orsini (available for free until June 29th).
Book: Routledge Handbook of Young People’s Environmental Activism, edited By Sadiya Akram, Benjamin Bowman