Putting Africa on the Stand: A Bird’s Eye View of Climate Change Litigation on the Continent

Although climate change litigation is rapidly increasing worldwide, and despite Africa being one of the regions predicted to be most severely affected by climate change, the continent has not yet seen any significant growth in this specialized form of litigation. Only a comparatively small number of court cases have to date been recognized as climate change conflicts in Africa. While briefly reflecting on possible reasons for this surprising trend, the primary objective of this article is to offer a first comprehensive interrogation of the state and future prospects of climate change litigation in Africa with a focus on three cases from South Africa, Uganda and Nigeria. The analysis commences with a characterization of current trends in and forms of climate change litigation that are emerging the world over, including a brief assessment of the types of climate change conflicts that are usually litigated, and the challenges and advantages associated with this specialized form of litigation. The article then offers a discussion of the unique nature of climate change impacts in Africa and assesses how this could shape the type of litigable climate change conflicts on the continent. Drawing on three cases from the countries mentioned above, and mindful of the risk of over-generalizing, the authors highlight and critically reflect on possible emerging climate change litigation trends in African courts, while also comparing them to trends now emerging worldwide.