ABSTRACT
The concluding chapter, ‘Conclusion: Key Lessons and a Future Research Agenda for Climate Litigation and Vulnerabilities’, synthesises the volume’s findings, emphasises critical insights, and proposes directions for further inquiry. It identifies five lessons, starting with addressing colonial legacies embedded in legal systems that shape climate litigation outcomes, then discusses the importance of intersectionality in assessing vulnerabilities faced by diverse populations. Another lesson relates to the value of innovative legal strategies that take cognisance of distinct challenges in the Global South. Then, the need to overcome barriers to access to climate justice, including structural challenges that impede marginalised communities from engaging effectively in climate litigation, is discussed. The last lesson relates to the facilitative role of courts in advancing climate justice. The chapter then proposes that future intersectional climate justice studies should broaden their focus beyond vulnerability experienced by relatively well-researched groups and focus, for instance, on LGBTQ+ communities, people with disabilities, people displaced by climate change, etc. Further, the chapter posits that there remains a need to deepen engagement with intersectionality as a crucial lens. Additionally, new climate litigation research should delve into legal remedies that address the unique circumstances of vulnerable communities in the Global South, enhancing climate litigation’s capacity to contribute meaningfully to global intersectional climate justice. Relatedly, research is required concerning how to ensure implementation and enforcement of remedies and thus advance environmental rule of law. Lastly, the chapter identifies a need for more multidisciplinary studies, including in relation to climate litigation and political ecology, as well as local and international politics. In closing, the volume envisions climate litigation as an imperfect but vital tool to recalibrate climate action, as innovative legal approaches addressing vulnerabilities inform best practices for safeguarding marginalised communities globally.
