Climate: Rights and Justice
A collection of short documentaries
Climate change is no longer only a scientific or environmental issue: it has become a profound legal, political, and moral challenge that is reshaping our understanding of justice, responsibility, and collective action.
- Climate change challenges the social contract between governments and citizens Governments have a fundamental duty to protect populations from climate-related harm, especially vulnerable groups. The 2024 European Court of Human Rights ruling against Switzerland illustrates how climate inaction may constitute a failure of governmental responsibility.
- The rights of nature are transforming legal and philosophical thinking The idea that rivers or ecosystems could possess legal rights challenges deeply rooted Western assumptions about law, property, and personhood. Recent legal recognitions, such as the Mar Menor Lagoon in Spain, show that these ideas are gaining momentum.
- Climate justice is fundamentally about unequal harm Those least responsible for climate change often suffer its worst consequences, while fossil fuel beneficiaries continue to profit. The conversation stresses the need for equity, restitution, and global mechanisms such as the Green Climate Fund.
- Courts and litigation are becoming powerful climate actors Children, Indigenous peoples, and vulnerable communities are increasingly turning to the law to defend their rights and seek accountability for environmental destruction, cultural loss, and climate damages.
- The proposed crime of ecocide could redefine international law There is growing support for recognizing ecocide as a fifth international crime alongside genocide and crimes against humanity. The debate reflects a broader effort to use criminal law to protect ecosystems and address large-scale environmental destruction.
Climate: Rights and Justice
Across the world, courts, governments, activists, Indigenous communities, and young generations are increasingly turning to the law to confront environmental destruction, demand accountability, and defend both human and non-human rights. From the protection of vulnerable populations against extreme weather to the recognition of rivers and ecosystems as legal entities, new forms of climate thinking are emerging that challenge traditional ideas of sovereignty, economics, and international law. At the same time, growing calls for the recognition of ecocide as an international crime reveal the urgency of finding new mechanisms capable of addressing large-scale environmental harm. This short documentary brings together some of the leading voices in climate science, environmental humanities, and international law to explore how legal systems may become one of the decisive battlegrounds in the global response to climate change.
Featuring: Neil Adger, Robert Macfarlane, Friederike Otto, Tamsin Edwards, Philippe Sands.
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