SDG13: Climate Change Litigation and Indigenous Rights

This chapter examines the use of climate change litigation by Indigenous peoples. It argues that Indigenous communities are already being disproportionately affected by climate change and observes that litigation is increasingly used as a tool to combat climate change, in part due to the limitations of the international climate governance system in addressing the climate emergency in a timely and just manner. In mapping landmark cases from the unsuccessful Inuit petition to the recently successful Torres Strait Islanders petition, the chapter argues that despite its limitations, climate litigation is increasingly effective in achieving redress for victims of climate change and in raising awareness of the urgency of climate change.