Victims in Climate Litigation

Abstract Alleged victims have often played a central role in litigation aimed at prompting climate change mitigation. Courts have identified such victims in order to grant plaintiffs standing to sue, justify their invocation of individual rights and consider claims for compensation. This article observes, however, that no individual can really be, at least in a strict legal sense, a victim of a State or an entity’s failure to mitigate climate change. This is because, while climate wrongs certainly harm society, they do not harm specific individuals in a sufficiently direct and proximate way. This observation has major implications for climate litigation, but it is not a fatal flaw: the absence of victims does not necessarily preclude litigation as, for instance, standing can often be established on sounder legal grounds.