The climate crisis is undoubtedly a human rights crisis. A recent IPCC report outlined that the failure of humanity to curb global heating has already guaranteed irreversible damage, and that an additional 1.7 billion people will be exposed to severe heat (IPCC, 2022). Children will be the worst and longest affected by the climate crisis, and therefore children’s rights are an important framework through which to seek climate mitigation. A 2019 Lancet Report predicted that a child born today will be impacted by climate change in their lifetime in relation to everything from food security to disease to poverty (Watts et al., 2019). It is unsurprising then that ‘intergenerational justice’ is probably the most significant term in human rights in this century. Children and youth have been driving activism and litigation against climate change for the past three years. Although the outcomes can be perhaps described as mixed in terms of legal success, there is no doubt that these actions are dramatically altering the landscape of international human rights law (Daly, 2022). Despite their prominence in climate justice however, there is little indication that those frameworks are well suited to the needs of children and youth as actors.

The climate crisis creates an intensely unjust situation whereby children and youth will pay dearly for the unfettered carbon emissions of this and previous generations. Brown Weiss defined ‘intergenerational equity’ in 1989 as equity of resource options, quality and access from one generation to the next (Brown Weiss, 1989). Yet much of the focus has been on those ‘yet to be born’, and the interests of children may or may not be taken together with those of ‘future generations’ (Daly, 2023). One of many differences in the interests between children and those yet to be born in climate cases is that children are increasingly the actual litigants. Although children’s rights are sometimes invoked in litigation, there is little academic analysis of the experiences of children themselves in relation to this, or consideration of the procedural rights children have during these cases (and what obligations adults might have to them). Close examination of these points will be necessary for adequate elaboration of child friendly justice in the climate crisis. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) 1989 is the most ratified human rights instrument. A children’s rights approach requires adaptations to justice proceedings to accommodate the distinct needs and vulnerabilities of children, so that they can participate meaningfully in the legal process (Stalford and Hollingworth, 2020). The question of how to make sure justice systems are suited to children/youth is becoming increasingly important as child/youth-led climate cases proliferate.

This article aims to provide academic analysis for academics and others of some of the main points which require examination in relation to child and youth friendly justice in the climate crisis. Fraser and Henderson argue that in the context of the climate crisis, lawyers have a responsibility to those such as children who are traditionally excluded from politics and law. They also urge scholars to design interpretive practices and methodologies to support these groups in pursuit of helping the environment (Fraser and Henderson, 2022).

This article aims to do this through focusing on the children’s rights framework, and through consideration of some recent and ongoing child/youth climate litigation. It does not provide an exhaustive list of solutions as to how to ensure that climate justice is suited to children and youth. For one thing, only further research with children and youth as partners can provide this.1 Rather this article aims to provoke and support reflection on how to ensure that climate justice efforts are positive for children and youth, and that they are underpinned by children’s rights principles.

It must be acknowledged that justice is much broader than UN complaints mechanisms and litigation, and such actions are part of a much broader picture of youth climate action in protest, policy, and numerous other arenas (Bowman et al., 2021). Many countries have Ombudspersons specifically for children for example (Liefaard, 2019). Yet little is known about available mechanisms for children to access climate justice at local and national and level (Daly and Lundy, 2022; Child Rights Connect, 2020).2 This article will however focus on more ‘legal’ and international law types of access to justice, that is, courts and complaints mechanisms such as the Committee on the Rights of the Child. It should also be noted that this article will understand children/youth to mean under-18s unless otherwise specified, not least because ‘children’ is understood by the CRC to mean those under 18 years (Article 1). Yet the boundaries are not clear cut of course – the term ‘youth’ is used colloquially from age 12 but can be understood to extend to those in their mid-20s (UN, nd).

In section 1, children/youth are placed in the context of climate justice, and the extent to which children desire climate justice is outlined. In section 2, the concept and standard of ‘child friendly justice’ – first elaborated by the Council of Europe – is considered. In section 3, the characteristics of child friendly justice are considered in relation to the specifics of the climate crisis. It is outlined that it is crucial to view child friendly climate justice through the lens of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Within this, four concepts are suggested. Children should have access to justice, for example to have their applications heard on their merits wherever possible. Children should enjoy participation rights such as information and support. Children’s interests should be properly considered both by their adult representatives as well as by judges. Finally, it should be ensured that judgments take account of the children’s rights framework, and that they are delivered in a child friendly way.