Environmental degradation as age discrimination

Abstract

This paper argues that anti-age-discrimination law can be used in environmental litigation to combat environmental degradation, including climate inaction. This claim is premised on the possibility of a cohortal reading of anti-age-discrimination law, allowing to challenge discriminatory environmental degradation between generations. Such a cohortal reading received implicit legal support e.g. in the 2012 Commission v. Hungary ECJ case. We specify the personal and material scope conditions under which this strategy could be legally successful.