Intergenerational Climate Justice: Legal and EthicalFrameworks for Protecting Future Generations’Environmental Rights
Keywords:
Intergenerational justice, climate change, future generations, environmental rights, climate litigation, sustainable development.Abstract
The problem of climate change presents greater intergenerational justice challenges than ever before, since current emissions are exerting extreme pressures on future generations, the group of people who have no agency in making present decisions. This is a critical analysis of legal and ethical frameworks intended to protect the rights of the future generation on climate change in the context of protecting the environmental rights of the future generation. The research explores how international legal systems can be transformed to acknowledge and implement duties towards posterity by examining international law, constitutional provisions, new litigation strategies and philosophical theories of justice. The paper posits that although significant progress has been achieved regarding youth climate litigation, constitutional environmental rights, and the advancement of guardianship doctrines, there are still enormous loopholes in terms of the application of the principles of intergenerational equity in legally binding statutes. The conclusions propose a multi-layered approach by integrating international treaties, domestic constitutional reforms, judicial innovation and institutional mechanisms as a way of guaranteeing climate justice across generations.
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