Newsletters
May 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 April 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
Book Now Available Open Access: We are thrilled to share that our recently published book, The Rights of Children and Youth in the Climate Crisis: Action and Litigation (Routledge), by Aoife Daly, Florencia Paz Landeira, and Liesl Muller, is now available open access. You can read it here!
We are also pleased to announce the in-person book launch, which will take place at University College Cork on 21 May 2026, 3pm in the Dora Allman room. You can register to attend here.
Fieldwork in North America: Aoife and Flor recently conducted research with young climate advocates from across North America. The insights will help us understand the experiences and journeys of these children and youth and how to better achieve child/youth friendly climate justice.
YOUTH CLIMATE LITIGATION/APLICATION
Dunn v. Wisconsin Public Service Commission — Dane County Court Dismisses Youth Climate Case: On 23 April 2026, a Dane County Circuit Court judge dismissed Dunn v. Wisconsin Public Service Commission, a constitutional climate lawsuit filed by fifteen Wisconsin youth aged 8 to 17, represented by Our Children's Trust and Midwest Environmental Advocates. The plaintiffs had challenged state laws capping renewable energy requirements and barring regulators from considering pollution from new fossil fuel plants. Judge Julie Genovese, while sympathetic to the youths' argument, ruled that environmental policy is a "nonjusticiable political question" that must be resolved through the political process. The legal team has indicated they believe there is a strong case for appeal. Read the press release here.
OPEN CALLS AND EVENTS
Registration Open: UCC Law and the Environment Conference 2026 — The annual UCC Law and the Environment Conference 2026 brings together scholars, practitioners, and policymakers to discuss pressing issues in environmental law and governance. The conference will take place at University College Cork 23rd April and will feature a range of panels on contemporary environmental challenges. Details on registration, programme, and participation are available here.
Book Launch: The Rights of Children and Youth in the Climate Crisis: Action and Litigation (Routledge) by Aoife Daly, Florencia Paz Landeira, and Liesl Muller. This will take place at University College Cork on 21 May 2026, 3pm in the Dora Allman room. You can register to attend here.
Call for Papers: Governing Climate in an Age of Retreat, Risk, and Geopolitical Re-alignment — The Gender Inclusive Climate Change Governance (GenCGov) programme at the University of Bradford is hosting a flagship conference focused on advancing inclusive climate governance across national and regional levels. The conference will take place on 24–25 June 2026 and will bring together over 200 stakeholders, including policymakers, academics, civil society, and youth representatives. The organisers invite submissions for papers, panels, and posters related to the conference theme. More information here.
Call for Submissions: Amicus Briefs (African Court Advisory Opinion Proceedings) — Submissions are open for amicus briefs in the advisory opinion proceedings currently pending before the African Court. Contributions will be included in the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law’s Climate Litigation Database (subject to consent). This is an opportunity to support ongoing climate litigation processes by contributing relevant legal analysis and expertise. Submissions can be made via this form.
Call for Abstracts: 3rd Annual International Conference on Children’s Rights — The Stellenbosch University Faculty of Law will host the 3rd Annual International Conference on Children’s Rights on 8 September 2026, under the theme “Children’s Rights in a Polycrisis.” The organisers invite abstract submissions from a range of perspectives, including doctrinal, empirical, socio-legal, comparative, and practice-based approaches. Abstracts and enquiries can be sent to iccr@sun.ac.za
Event: Global Launch – Children and Young People’s Standards for Meaningful Participation — Join this online global launch event on 25 April 2026 (14:00–15:30 CEST), which will present the “Children and Young People’s Standards for their Meaningful Participation in Global Events.” The event will explore how children and young people can be meaningfully included in global policy spaces, from preparation to follow-up. Registration is available here.
Call for Inputs: Thematic Report on the Role of Justice Systems in Addressing the Climate Crisis (OHCHR) — The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has opened a call for input to inform an upcoming thematic report on the role of justice systems in addressing the climate crisis. A key opportunity for researchers, practitioners, civil society organisations, and youth advocates working at the intersection of climate justice, human rights, and access to justice. More information here.
Call for Inputs: Youth Activism, Gen Z Protests, and Youth-Led Organizations (UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association) — The UN Special Rapporteur is preparing a thematic report for the UN General Assembly on youth-led movements and how Gen Z activists are increasingly targeted through surveillance, criminalisation, and stigmatising narratives. Contributions are invited from youth activists, academia, civil society, and governments, and can be submitted via email, multimedia testimonies, or social media (full guidelines at the link). Deadline: 5 June 2026. More information here.
Call for Papers: Children's Rights and Representations – Special Issue of Jeunesse: Young People, Texts, Cultures — This special issue invites articles exploring children's rights in contemporary cultural forms (literature, film, art, political rhetoric, popular culture) and their interrelationship with legal frameworks. Topics include children's environmental rights, climate fiction, children in conflict, Indigenous and minority children's rights, rights of future generations, and participation rights. Deadline: 6 July 2026. More information here.
Reminder – Call for Abstracts: 3rd Annual International Conference on Children's Rights (Stellenbosch University) — A reminder that the Stellenbosch University Faculty of Law will host the 3rd Annual International Conference on Children's Rights on 8 September 2026, under the theme "Children's Rights in a Polycrisis." Abstracts are welcomed from doctrinal, empirical, socio-legal, comparative, and practice-based perspectives, and can be sent to iccr@sun.ac.za.
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 trees can "talk" to each other underground? Through a network of fungi that intertwines with their roots — sometimes called the "Wood Wide Web" — trees share nutrients like water, carbon, and nitrogen, and can even send chemical warning signals when they are under attack by insects or disease. Older, larger trees (known as "mother trees") play a special role, passing on nutrients to younger saplings nearby to help them survive. Scientists are now studying how climate change and deforestation disrupt these underground networks, threatening the health of entire forests. Learn more here!
PUBLICATIONS
Article: Interlinked effects of climate change on youth sexual reproductive health and rights, gender equality and access to education: a review of the literature and stakeholder insights from Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia, by Anne Karam, Hannah Kabelka, Joseph M. Zulu, Zaida Adriano Cumbe, Zindaba Chisiza & Pam Baatsen.
Article: Narratives of youth climate activism: exploring the diversity of meaning-making on climate change and citizenship, by Alice Fonseca & Paula Castro.