Introduction

In this introductory chapter we suggest that transitional justice provides useful concepts and practices for reconciling past-oriented concerns about historical responsibility for climate harms with desires for broader and deeper collective action on climate change. We understand transitional justice as a lens through which to view climate conflicts in a new way and identify options for moving forward that might otherwise be left unexplored. We identify similarities between the transitional justice and climate contexts, particularly regarding the evolving nature of international norms, the politicization of both fields, and the need for diverse and tailored responses to profound and diverse losses. After providing an overview of the institutional and other approaches to addressing climate harms and facilitating global climate action that are suggested by transitional justice, we highlight the need to be pragmatic but also to some extent idealistic in finding innovative ways of working toward climate justice.