ABSTRACT
The author argues that the time has arrived for environmental action supporting resilience to a changing climate. Coinciding in time with the US Presidential stance of climate change denial, court and political decisions are hopeful signs that debilitation and stasis are not universal. Environmental rights, like all human rights, are claims for action and response; rights require that their addressee do something in reaction to the claim. Denial is little more than an excuse for inaction. Its debilitating effect as we have seen is not just to kick the can of policy down the road; denial perpetuates environmental harm and therefore violates human rights. Judicial decisions like Urgenda and Juliana are official rebukes of the stance of denial. Made in the name of the environmental rights of children and of future generations, they recognize that climate change denial portends sufficient harm to those rights to mark it as a crime against humanity.
