Ecologies of justice in the climate crisis: Europe’s socio-legal turmoil
Professor Christina Eckes has written an article for the latest issue of The Common Market Law Review.
The February issue is dedicated to what role EU law can and should play in an era of geopolitical instability and renewed power politics.
The 22 contributions in this issue reflect on topics such as the meaning and the defense of liberal democracy and the social market economy, the foundations of rules-based cooperation grounded in law, trust, and solidarity, the tools available to the EU and their limits, and the role of law in defining and protecting the EU’s basic values and interests.
Professor Eckes’ article offers a first synthesis of how the Strategic Climate Litigation project on climate litigation and democracy conceptualises the relationships of justification that underpin resilient democratic processes. It locates mitigation cases against states in these democratic processes and reflects on the role of the ECJ.
Abstract
Climate litigation before the European Court of Human Rights, the International Court of Justice, and national courts reveals the gap between States’ proclaimed climate ambitions and their actual emission reductions. It compels governments to justify inaction and engages them in processes of public reason-giving. This contribution argues that such judicial engagement plays a vital democratic role in Europe’s response to the climate crisis. By establishing factual truth and fairness amid polarization, courts enhance the rationality of deliberation and strengthen democratic legitimacy. Situating these practices within broader ‘justification relationships’ among institutions, the analysis shows law’s capacity to mediate tensions. Against this backdrop, it critically examines the role of the European Union in mitigating the climate crisis and the reluctance of the Court of Justice of the European Union to address the EU’s climate obligations. It contends that the Court of Justice’s judicial engagement is essential to uphold both democratic legitimacy and ecological justice in Europe.
