Bringing Climate Change to Court – Questions of Justice and Democracy

Join us at Spui 25 for a roundtable discussion about climate change, law and matters of democracy.

Introduction

Climate change affects everyone, everywhere. But the way we deal with it—especially in court—is mostly local. Lawsuits over climate issues usually happen in national or regional courts, using local laws. Meanwhile, climate change is a global problem, with impacts that cross borders and generations. This creates a big challenge: how do we balance the need for global justice with the limits of local democracy?

Litigation is one of the key places where people fight for justice. It’s where claims are made, argued, and decided—and those decisions shape our democratic systems. But in the climate crisis, justice and democracy don’t always align neatly. While climate justice demands a global view, democratic institutions are built to serve national interests.

Three speakers take different perspectives in a round table discussion on how climate litigation may or may not contribute to bringing an international justice perspective to the domestic decision-making process on climate matters. They defend different perspectives on how the tension between democracy and justice should be reconciled.