ABSTRACT
Climate litigation scholarship has begun to introduce a nuanced understanding of vulnerability to the analysis of climate lawsuits, including in relation to the health impacts associated with climate change. The focus of the analysis predominantly rests on the interpretation and application of the right to a healthy environment in claims and judgements. This approach, however, potentially overlooks the distinctive significance of social rights, particularly the right to health in climate litigation, and the socio-political drivers inherent to the contexts in which litigation unfolds. To fill this gap, this chapter examines how the profiles, opportunity structures, and resources of litigants and judges shape the outcomes of litigation. In so doing, the chapter not only casts light on the question of how such actors frame and advance the protection of the right to health of vulnerable populations but also answers the why behind these processes, adding depth to the existing literature. This exploration is grounded in five constitutional climate lawsuits spanning Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, and Mexico, incorporating contextual analysis and semi-structured interviews with claimants’ legal representatives and judges of the cases. The chapter ultimately reveals that climate litigation has only partially addressed affected populations’ lack of opportunities to prevent and treat climate-related and exacerbated health conditions. It posits that a more comprehensive approach to tackling the social dimension of health vulnerability appears more feasible through community lawyering, fostering advocacy networks, progressive legal traditions, and independent judges considering claimants’ social contexts.
