Climate Change and Indigenous Groups: The rise of Indigenous voices in climate litigation

Abstract

Climate change’s pervasive human rights impacts on populations worldwide are widespread and now widely known. One avenue to address these human rights impacts is the growth of rights-based climate litigation. There are now hundreds of cases worldwide grounded on human rights claims. However, less attention has been brought to how vulnerable groups are disproportionally affected by climate change. Indigenous groups, in particular, are disproportionately affected by climate change due to their connection to their land and dependence on their ecosystems. To increase global attention and seek legal remedies to address how Indigenous communities are impacted by climate change, Indigenous groups are becoming important stakeholders in climate litigation. This article broadly discusses how Indigenous communities are negatively affected by climate change and how they use litigation to address them. The article answers these questions by bringing international, regional, and national examples.