Peer-reviewed article
The Limitations and Opportunities of Child Participation in Climate Change Litigation in Africa
Gift Gawanani Mauluka ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This article examines how children can participate in climate change litigation in African countries. It finds that children's involvement in climate litigation is currently limited and often tokenistic, failing to give them meaningful influence over climate decisions. The article explores both the legal opportunities for child participation and the barriers that prevent it from being genuine. Climate change affects children's survival and development, making their voice important in legal processes.
Key points
- Children's participation in climate change litigation in African countries is currently tokenistic and does not afford meaningful involvement in decision-making
- Climate change legal frameworks internationally and domestically permit child participation, but this is not being realised in practice
- Climate change litigation itself is still in its infancy and progressing slowly in African countries
- The article examines both limitations and opportunities for improving children's participation in climate litigation
Limitations
The document is a conceptual analysis of legal frameworks and participation, not an empirical study measuring outcomes or testing interventions. It does not provide data on the scale of child participation, specific examples of litigation cases, or evidence of impact on child well-being or climate outcomes.
Abstract
Climate change legal frameworks call upon countries to mitigate and adapt to the adverse effects of climate change. These frameworks have influenced the creation of policies and laws addressing climate change across the globe. Activists, individuals, and civil society organisations have utilised campaigns, demonstrations, and climate change litigation to compel countries to adhere to their climate change obligations provided in these frameworks. However, climate change litigation is still in its infancy and progressing slowly in African countries. Additionally, children’s involvement in such litigation is limited despite international and domestic legal frameworks permitting their participation. This article argues that children’s participation in climate change litigation in African countries is currently tokenistic and does not afford them meaningful involvement in the decision-making processes in climate change matters. Having presented the importance of child participation, it examines the opportunities and limitations of children’s participation in climate change litigation.