Climate change is one of the major challenges facing mankind. Climate change laws, policy, energy laws, and human rights framework are major instruments for coping with the challenges possess by climate change. Human rights litigation can be an effective tool for persuading governments officials to take more effective climate actions.  Climate change has become a threat to the enjoyment of basic human rights in the world. Antonio Guterres asserted that ‘climate change is happening now and to all of us. No country or community is immune and as is always the case, the poor and vulnerable are the first to suffer and the worst hit’.[1] The global South is disproportionately affected by the impact of climate change. The African continent is one of the most vulnerable continents that will feel the impact of climate change, as global warming is expected to increase drought, flooding which might result to the increase of poverty.[2] However, climate change is not only an environmental issue but also human rights issues dealing with social systems, injustices and affects different classes of people, starting from race, gender, geography, and generations.

Due to the urgency needed to tackle climate change, litigants have resorted to the courts to compel their governments to take action. It has been recorded that in 2017 alone, 884 cases were filed globally with 654 cases in the USA and 230 in countries combined. As of the first of July 2020, 1,550 cases were filed in over 38 Countries in which, 1,200 was filed in the USA, 350 filed in other countries while Australia recorded 97, the United Kingdom 58 and European Union 55 respectively.[3] However, in Africa only 10 cases have been litigated so far.  As climate change remain a threat to humanity and the entire globe, activists and other stakeholders across Africa may need to turn to the courts and regional human rights mechanisms to influence their governments to take action on climate change. The purpose of this project is to elucidate the opportunities and challenges for climate change litigation in Africa.

Purpose of the Project

International regulatory efforts are failing, making it increasingly important to resort to domestic and regional regulatory solutions to which litigation can contribute. Thus, Climate governance operates across multiple scales and involves many actors, litigation can be a useful means of connecting these different actors. While some African governments have enacted laws and policies on the mitigation of climate change in Africa, one major problem is adaptation.

The purpose of this project would be to set out how climate change litigation can help climate change adaptation in Africa. As mitigation and adaptive outcomes rely on the cumulative effect of numerous smaller-scale decisions, many of which come before courts and through which litigation can play an effective shaping role.

Potential Impact of the project

This project envisages raising awareness and encouraging conversations around the legal framework on climate change and its application in African Countries, and how litigation may be utilized as part of broader advocacy campaigns to get African governments to act.

[1] Sustainable Development Goals ‘Climate Justice’ available at  https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2019/05/climate-justice/

[2] UNEP ‘Responding to Climate Change’ available at https://www.unep.org/regions/africa/regional-initiatives/responding-climate-change

[3] UN Environment Programme ‘ Global climate litigation report 2020 status review’ at 13 available at https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/34818/GCLR.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y