Standing in collective environmental claims: the quest for normative consistency towards representation

Collective environmental claims straddle the protection of two interests - the diffused and the individual. Given the duality of interests involved, the representative element in standing criteria take on greater significance in such claims. This article critiques the current approach towards representation in collective environmental claims before selected domestic and international courts. The article draws on perspectives from philosophy and political science to advocate for a novel (re)conceptualisation of representation in these claims. With a new conceptual foundation established, the article proposes standing criteria which should be used to assess representation in such claims.