Victims in climate litigation

Mayer, B. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0669-7457 (2026) Victims in climate litigation. International and Comparative Law Quarterly. pp. 1-29. ISSN 1471-6895 doi: 10.1017/S0020589325101358

Abstract/Summary

Alleged victims have often played a central role in litigation aimed at prompting climate change mitigation. Courts have identified such victims in order to grant plaintiffs standing to sue, justify their invocation of individual rights, and consider claims for compensation. However, this article observes, no individual can really be a victim of someone else’s failure to mitigate climate change. This is because, while a climate wrong may certainly harm society, it does not harm specific individuals in a sufficiently direct and proximate way. This observation has major implications for climate litigation, but it is not a fatal flaw: standing, for instance, can often be established on sounder grounds.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/id/eprint/124598
Identification Number/DOI	10.1017/S0020589325101358
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Arts, Humanities and Social Science > School of Law
Publisher	Cambridge University Press
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