Dr Sam Adelman, British Academy Fellowship
The Role of Rights in Achieving Climate Justice and Sustainable Development
Global heating is an existential threat to humanity, biodiversity and nature in the Anthropocene. The poor and vulnerable are least responsible for greenhouse gas emissions but most vulnerable to climatic harms. Around the world, plaintiffs in climate litigation are using human rights in pursuit of climate justice and rights of nature to protect the environment.
As the climate emergency unfolds, courts across the globe appear willing to hand down decisions against states and corporations which fail to tackle global heating. Dr Sam Adelman's Fellowship examines rights-based climate litigation and focuses on two areas:
-
Rights of nature in Colombia
-
The constitutional right to a clean and healthy environment in South Africa.
It includes a critique of mainstream, ecologically destructive models of development. The research addresses the legal obstacles that must be overcome in climate litigation and the advantages and disadvantages of using human rights and the rights of nature in climate litigation.
The Atrato River in northwestern Colombia has been given rights.
School climate strikers.
The research will assess the extent to which rights-based litigation protects nature and promotes ecological sustainability – which is not the same as growth-driven sustainable development - and protecting the human rights of particularly vulnerable groups such as women, children and indigenous peoples.
To what extent can the rights of future generations be protected through rights-based climate litigation?
The research will assess the degree to which environmental law in Colombia and South Africa provides models for other developing countries in the global south and whether nature should be given rights in the EU and UK.
The project was predicated upon the possibility of undertaking research in Colombia and South Africa but this has not proved possible due to Covid-19. Research output will include a co-authored book on climate justice in the Anthropocene, journal articles, conference presentations, and seminars. The research will also contribute to a future work on development and climate change.