Climate change presents a big threat to our planet and is enhancing the pre-existing social and economic inequalities on global and local level, while states fail to take appropriate measures to mitigate and adapt to climate change in line with scientific knowledge and their respective obligations stemming from international law. Climate change litigation are lawsuits brought before domestic courts, regional human rights courts, international courts, and other international bodies. Individuals and civil society use climate change litigation to encourage governments to comply with United Nations Framework on Climate Change, Kyoto Protocol, and Paris Agreement commitments. National law, human rights law, and international climate change law are most often used as a legal basis for climate change litigation.
The purpose of this master's thesis is analysis whether climate change litigation can serve as an appropriate remedy by which individuals and civil society can achieve that the defendant state implements their international obligations. The first part is aimed at reviewing the climate change legal framework, while the second part studies UN Human Rights Mechanisms and regional human rights courts where climate change cases are filed and includes the study of key climate change cases that have been brought against governments in national courts, human rights courts, and in UN Human Rights Mechanisms.
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