Abstract:
Climate disputes – which form a distinct and increasingly important category of disputes – have particular needs and give rise to particular challenges. Traditional adversarial models of adjudication will often not be best suited to providing the most suitable or meaningful resolution of these disputes, or to addressing the real problems that underlie them. This article suggests that a bespoke model of justice – informed by the concept of therapeutic justice – should be developed for climate disputes, to ensure that they are managed and resolved in a way that meaningfully addresses the wider interests and the deeper issues at stake. Such a model should be restorative, holistic, interest-based and forward-looking, and would mark a shift from a singular focus on the adjudication of rights and wrongs to the facilitated resolution of conflict.