The Struggle Is Now: Why We Should Be Cautious About Granting Present Rights to Future Generations

The appeal to future gen­er­a­tions as a means to legit­imize cli­mate lit­i­ga­tion is grow­ing. The idea of advo­cat­ing for the rights of future gen­er­a­tions is close­ly linked to the recog­ni­tion of the human right to a healthy envi­ron­ment. How­ev­er, this appeal – and the con­cep­tu­al con­nec­tion it entails –rais­es var­i­ous ques­tions. While pro­tect­ing the plan­et for future gen­er­a­tions is cru­cial, the legal invo­ca­tion of future gen­er­a­tions remains unclear and inconsistent.