Climate Justice: A Rule of Law Approach for Transformative Climate Action

Climate change is the defining global development challenge of our time, with significant implications for the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. As the only global intergovernmental organization exclusively devoted to promoting the rule of law to advance peace and sustainable development, IDLO believes that the rule of law is a vital enabler of transformative climate action.

IDLO’s Policy Brief Climate Justice: A Rule of Law Approach for Transformative Climate Action highlights three key elements of achieving transformative climate action through the rule of law:

• Empowering the most climate-vulnerable people to realize environmental rights and actively participate in decision-making processes
• Strengthening regulatory frameworks and institutional capacity for climate-resilient development
• Improving governance of land and other natural resources with a focus on enhancing land rights and sustaining peace

Drawing on these insights, the policy paper issues a call to action in the form of recommendations for policymakers and practitioners:

1. Empower climate-vulnerable communities and people
2. Invest in people-centered laws and institutions to promote transformative climate action
3. Champion feminist climate action and integrate gender-transformative approaches
4. Strengthen prospects for sustaining peace and stability by preventing and resolving climate-related disputes
5. Engage with customary, informal and indigenous justice systems to protect biodiversity and promote sustainable use of natural resources
6. Harness the transformative potential of the rule of law to address the intersecting effects of climate change
7. Mobilize global multi-stakeholder coalitions to accelerate climate action

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