Climate Change and Fundamental Rights of Future Generations

The international debate on the rights of future generations has gained momentum as courts increasingly recognise the relevance of intergenerational equity in the interpretation and application of fundamental rights. Against this backdrop, this book analyses the relationship between fundamental rights and intergenerational equity in Austrian constitutional law, with climate change as a paradigmatic intergenerational problem. The analysis explores the realisation of intergenerational equity de lege lata and identifies structural weaknesses of existing objective legal obligations for the protection of future generations. It develops a rights-based approach and argues that fundamental rights could be mobilised more systematically to address intergenerational challenges. At its core, the book analyses the theoretical and practical feasibility of recognising fundamental rights of future generations de lege ferenda. Drawing on the prevailing doctrinal understanding of subjective rights, it discusses key objections to rights of future generations and addresses associated practical questions, including the scope of protection, intertemporal conflicts of rights, the legal handling of uncertainty, and the representation of future generations in the present.