Human rights-based litigation in the transition towards net zero emissions: a double-edged sword?

Citation

Savaresi A (2025) Human rights-based litigation in the transition towards net zero emissions: a double-edged sword?. In: Martinez Romera B, Nordlander L, Monti A & Rytter JE (eds.) Human Rights and Investment Law for Climate Change. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, pp. 71-86. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781035310098.00012

Abstract
Human rights-based climate litigation has been growing steadily in recent years, prompting state and corporate actors to take greater climate action. The same may, however, also be said of so-called just transition litigation, which relies on human rights law and remedies to challenge measures or projects designed to deliver climate change adaptation and/or mitigation. This chapter takes stock of these trends in human rights litigation, reflecting on how human rights arguments may be used both to support and to object to measures aimed at delivering the transition towards net zero emissions.

Keywords
Human rights-based climate litigation; Just transition litigation; Paris Agreement; Climate change law; Human rights law; International law