Climate Change on Trial

Tells the twenty-year socio-legal story of human rights-based climate change (RCC) litigation. Based on an original database of the totality of RCC lawsuits around the world as well as interviews with leading actors and participant observation in the field, this Element explains the rise and global diffusion of RCC litigation as a form of climate governance. Combines insights from global governance, international law, climate policy, human rights, and legal mobilization theory in order to offer a sociolegal account of the actors, strategies, and norms that have emerged at the intersection of human rights and climate governance. By proposing a broad understanding of the impacts of legal mobilization that includes direct and indirect, material and symbolic effects, it documents the contributions and shortcomings of human rights litigation in addressing the climate emergency. This title is also available as open access on Cambridge Core.