The Risk of Intergenerational Decline of the Rule of Law as a Result of Adverse Climate Change

The rule of law risks gradual and intergenerational decline due to the negative impact on human rights that results from the international community’s failure to mitigate and adapt to adverse climate change. It is not uncommonly argued that the concept of the rule of law also includes a human rights dimension. How States impact human rights therefore also risks impacting the rule of law. Adverse climate change and insufficient State measures impact the real enjoyment of human rights and, by extension, eventually also the rule of law. That detrimental impact can travel across generations and increase over time. This is supported by contemporary case law and State practice from the area of climate change litigation.