Newsletters
June Newsletter
This newsletter was first sent by email to the members of our Research Network. If you would like to be part of it, sign up here.
NEWS
Youth Advisory Team. We recently recruited our project youth advisory team of children from all over the globe, shortlisting from close to 400 applicants. This month, we are excited to share the latest project blogpost article on this theme, written by Katie Reid. Katie is a practitioner and researcher specializing in child and youth participation in decision-making processes related to climate change, the environment, and biodiversity. In her article, she offers insights and reflections on the recruitment and selection process for the Young Advisory Team of the Youth Climate Justice project at University College Cork. Read the article here.
NEXT ONLINE RESEARCH FORUM
As part of the Youth Climate Research Network, we will host a monthly online research forum where members can present their ongoing research or share published or in-progress papers. Occasionally, we will have special guest speakers on specific topics.
For our first online research forum, we have a very special guest speaker: Elisa Morgera, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Climate Change and Professor of Global Environmental Law at the University of Strathclyde Law School.
Her presentation is entitled: "What is the role of the UN Special Rapporteur on Climate Change and Human Rights in relation to children's human rights?" We will meet on June 27th at 1 pm (GMT) for a 30 minute presentation, 40 minutes for questions/discussion, and 10 minutes for closure and planning of the next forum.
YOUTH CLIMATE APPLICATIONS/LITIGATION
A new youth climate lawsuit has been launched in Alaska. Eight young residents are suing the state over the development of a natural gas project, arguing that it violates their constitutional rights by releasing harmful greenhouse gas emissions. Read more here.
Exciting developments in Navahine v. Hawai’i. Promising news are expected soon. Given Hawai’i's explicit protection of children's rights embedded in its Constitution, this case is of particular interest.
Five years after launch in 2019, the La Rose youth climate lawsuit moving to trial. Canadian youth file amended statement of claim in constitutional climate lawsuit. The filing follows the December 13, 2023, unanimous decision by the Canada Federal Court of Appeal, where justices ruled that there would be a trial to determine if Canada is fulfilling its constitutional obligations to protect children’s rights to life, liberty and security of the person under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Read more here.
PUBLICATIONS
Book: Research Handbook on the Sociology of Youth. Edited by Judith Bessant, Philippa Collin and Patrick O’Keeffe. This comprehensive volume includes notable chapters such as:
- "Young People and Participatory Research in Times of Crises" by Benjamin Bowman
- "Beyond the Indignation of Young Climate Activists: The Political Potential of Climate-Emotions" by Louise Knops
- "Young People, Citizenship and Climate Justice" by Amelia Woods, Bronwyn Hayward, Ruth McManus, and Sacha McMeeking
Book: Climate Change and Youth Mental Health Multidisciplinary Perspectives. Edited by Elizabeth Haase and Kelsey Hudson. Highlights of this volume include:
- “A Legal Perspective on Judicial Remedies to Respond to Young People’s Climate Distress” by Andrea Rodgers and Kelsey Dunn.
- “Coping with Climate Change among Young People. Meaning-Focused Coping and Constructive Hope” by Maria Ojala and Xiaoxuan Chen.
Article: “The cascading effects of climate change on children: extreme floods, family mobility and child well-being in Amazonia” by Thaís de Carvalho.
Blog article: Clare Lagan has written a piece on the Duarte Agostinho ECHR Case for the World’s Youth for Climate Justice website, where she considers the tensions between the goals of ambitious youth-led climate litigation and the need for attainable climate litigation results, alongside the power of youth climate justice more broadly. Read the article here.