SubsidieMeestersStrategic Climate Litigation’s Direct and Indirect Consequences for Democracies
The project analyzes the impact of strategic climate litigation on democracy, aiming to provide a theoretical framework and guidance on its legal and social consequences in response to the climate emergency.
Projectdetails
Introduction
Sharply increasing strategic climate litigation (SCL) is a legal and social fact. It has the potential to influence the democratic process at a time when democracy and its safeguards are already widely in decline.
Nature of Climate Litigation
As with other forms of strategic litigation, climate litigation involves many actors, including NGOs, media, and politicians. It has many nuanced and indirect consequences beyond its direct legal effects, such as:
- Creating authoritative legal narratives
- Framing perceptions
- Fostering cooperation
- ‘Legalising’ the political debate
However, because of the particular nature of the climate emergency, as a global, scientifically certain existential threat to humanity, SCL is an extreme case of strategic litigation, both in quantity and in quality.
Socioeconomic Changes
As a sharply growing phenomenon, SCL aims for socioeconomic changes in response to the climate emergency as:
- A truly global collective action problem
- Increased by structurally inadequate political responses
- Affecting those most who do not (yet) have political power
It is also distinct in its reliance on:
- Arguments based on non-binding international norms (e.g., in the Paris Agreement)
- Complex science with uncertain legal effects (litigants: climate science; defendants: carbon capture technology)
Contribution of LitDem
LitDem breaks new ground by providing the missing theoretical framework that captures not only the direct legal but also the indirect non-legal consequences of SCL for the democratic process in times of societal tensions and democratic decline. It provides greatly needed guidance to involved actors.
Methodology
Based on qualitative multi-method studies, including systematic content analysis, doctrinal analysis, and interviews, of all SCL in four national and two European jurisdictions (DE, FR, NL, UK, EU, ECHR), it offers a grounded conceptual understanding of the democratic implications of rapidly growing SCL.
Research Questions
It answers the questions:
- How does SCL affect the democratic process?
- How could its (neglected) democratic potential be realised?
Financiële details & Tijdlijn
Financiële details
| Subsidiebedrag | € 1.999.784 |
| Totale projectbegroting | € 1.999.784 |
Tijdlijn
| Startdatum | 1-3-2024 |
| Einddatum | 28-2-2029 |
| Subsidiejaar | 2024 |
Partners & Locaties
Projectpartners
- UNIVERSITEIT VAN AMSTERDAMpenvoerder
Land(en)
Vergelijkbare projecten binnen European Research Council
| Project | Regeling | Bedrag | Jaar | Actie |
|---|---|---|---|---|
The Agency of Transnational Strategic Litigators in Global GovernanceThis project aims to develop a model of transnational collaboration among strategic litigators to enhance their agency in addressing global environmental governance challenges through comparative and qualitative research. | ERC Starting... | € 1.470.849 | 2022 | Details |
Child-friendly justice for the climate crisis: Post-paternalist judgments, litigation, participationYOUTHCLIMATEJUSTICE investigates how youth climate activism reshapes children's rights and justice systems, proposing a 'post-paternalism' approach to empower youth in climate litigation and advocacy. | ERC Consolid... | € 1.998.870 | 2023 | Details |
Climate Citizenship: Infrastructures, Environments, and Democracy in the Era of Climate ChangeThis project explores how green infrastructure adaptations to climate change reshape local social contracts and citizenship through ethnographic and collaborative ecological research. | ERC Starting... | € 1.500.000 | 2025 | Details |
Remote-Sensing Satellite Data and the Making of Global Climate in Europe, 1980s-2000s.CLIMASAT analyzes the historical interplay of satellite data and knowledge spheres from 1980-2000 Europe to reshape perceptions and responses to the climate crisis. | ERC Starting... | € 1.484.844 | 2022 | Details |
CLIMate policy integration – a comPLEXITY trap?CLIMPLEXITY aims to develop a theory and model for understanding and improving the integration of climate policies across EU sectors to overcome implementation barriers and enhance climate goals. | ERC Starting... | € 1.500.000 | 2025 | Details |
The Agency of Transnational Strategic Litigators in Global Governance
This project aims to develop a model of transnational collaboration among strategic litigators to enhance their agency in addressing global environmental governance challenges through comparative and qualitative research.
Child-friendly justice for the climate crisis: Post-paternalist judgments, litigation, participation
YOUTHCLIMATEJUSTICE investigates how youth climate activism reshapes children's rights and justice systems, proposing a 'post-paternalism' approach to empower youth in climate litigation and advocacy.
Climate Citizenship: Infrastructures, Environments, and Democracy in the Era of Climate Change
This project explores how green infrastructure adaptations to climate change reshape local social contracts and citizenship through ethnographic and collaborative ecological research.
Remote-Sensing Satellite Data and the Making of Global Climate in Europe, 1980s-2000s.
CLIMASAT analyzes the historical interplay of satellite data and knowledge spheres from 1980-2000 Europe to reshape perceptions and responses to the climate crisis.
CLIMate policy integration – a comPLEXITY trap?
CLIMPLEXITY aims to develop a theory and model for understanding and improving the integration of climate policies across EU sectors to overcome implementation barriers and enhance climate goals.
Vergelijkbare projecten uit andere regelingen
| Project | Regeling | Bedrag | Jaar | Actie |
|---|---|---|---|---|
LIFE Better EnforcementThe BeLIFE project empowers citizens and NGOs to enhance compliance with EU environmental law and strengthen environmental democracy through access to justice and participation in decision-making. | LIFE Standar... | € 806.891 | 2024 | Details |
Using the power of the law in Germany to create a healthy planet where nature and all people can thrive togetherClientEarth Germany's project aims to enhance environmental law enforcement and organizational development to drive systemic change in energy and agriculture by 2026. | LIFE NGO Ope... | € 0 | 2025 | Details |
LIFE Better Enforcement
The BeLIFE project empowers citizens and NGOs to enhance compliance with EU environmental law and strengthen environmental democracy through access to justice and participation in decision-making.
Using the power of the law in Germany to create a healthy planet where nature and all people can thrive together
ClientEarth Germany's project aims to enhance environmental law enforcement and organizational development to drive systemic change in energy and agriculture by 2026.