Intergenerational Justice Review

Exploring the legal obligation to reduce personal greenhouse gas emissions through climate litigation rulings

2026-07-20T08:34:46+00:00

Against the backdrop of an accelerating climate crisis, legal frameworks are maturing globally. Due to litigation, they already establish legal obligations for states and private corporations to implement appropriate reduction regulations and measures for their greenhouse gas emissions. In contrast, no globally agreed framework legally obligating individuals to reduce emissions has yet emerged. This article attempts to establish a legal basis for individual emission reduction obligations in light of this situation. Using international human rights conventions as a foundation, it argues that certain reduction obligations for individuals might exist, based on their respective circumstances. This conclusion is significant as a theoretical premise for incorporating individuals as key actors in future climate change countermeasures.

Beyond state policy: the personal carbon footprint, climate equity, and the bottom-up imperative in the African region and Nigeria

2026-07-20T08:24:32+00:00

State-centric, production-based climate governance has failed to deliver intergenerational justice, particularly for Africa. This article reframes the debate around the personal carbon footprint (PerCF), arguing that consumption-based accounting more accurately locates moral responsibility and that the subsistence-luxury distinction is essential for equitable policy in developing economies. A Nigerian case study illustrates both the structural constraints inflating involuntary emissions and the rising luxury footprint of an urban elite. Three reforms are proposed: a progressive bifurcated carbon tax, a national clean energy access fund, and a digital PerCF tracker.

Editorial

2026-07-20T08:18:24+00:00

Matthias Fritsch / Ferdinando G. Menga / Rebecca van der Post (eds.): Phenomenology and future generations: generativity, justice, and amor mundi

2026-07-20T08:41:00+00:00

Marcel Fratzscher: After us, the future: a new intergenerational contract for freedom, security and opportunities

2026-07-20T08:44:33+00:00