Framing Time in Climate Change Litigation

• Main Author: Chris Hilson
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oñati International Institute for the Sociology of Law 2019-08-01
• Series: Oñati Socio-Legal Series
• Subjects: Time; Temporality; Framing; Climate Change Litigation; Legal Mobilization; Tiempo; temporalidad; designación temporal; litigios sobre cambio climático; movilización legal
• Online Access: http://opo.iisj.net/index.php/osls/article/view/939

Time is of the essence in relation to climate change. However, there have been few studies of how time features as a frame in legal mobilization against climate change. The current article explores temporal framing in a number of high profile climate litigation cases, including <em>Urgenda</em>, <em>Kivalina</em>, Kingsnorth, and the current US Our Children&rsquo;s Trust proceedings. I argue that there is a tension between a future-looking scientific framing of time and both an environmentalist policy framing of time and a present-based scientific time frame. Under future-looking scientific framing, the effects of dangerous climate change have not yet occurred and remain some way off in the &lsquo;modelled&rsquo; future. Under an environmentalist policy time frame, action is needed immediately, now in the present, and with a present scientific time frame climate harm is already happening or is imminent.<br /><br /> El tiempo es esencial en relaci&oacute;n con el cambio clim&aacute;tico. Sin embargo, se han hecho pocos estudios sobre la manera en que se designan los marcos temporales en la movilizaci&oacute;n legal contra el cambio clim&aacute;tico. El presente art&iacute;culo examina la designaci&oacute;n de marcos temporales en una serie de casos jur&iacute;dicos contra el cambio clim&aacute;tico de gran notoriedad p&uacute;blica, como <em>Urgenda</em>, <em>Kivalina</em>, Kingsnorth, y los actuales procesos de Our Children's Trust en EEUU. Argumento que hay una tensi&oacute;n entre el marco temporal cient&iacute;fico de cara al futuro y el marco temporal de la ciencia basada en el momento actual. Seg&uacute;n el marco cient&iacute;fico a largo plazo, los efectos peligrosos del cambio clim&aacute;tico todav&iacute;a no han ocurrido y quedan a cierta distancia en un futuro <em>proyectado</em>. Bajo el prisma de la pol&iacute;tica medioambiental, se necesita una acci&oacute;n inmediata, ahora, en el presente; y, de acuerdo con un marco cient&iacute;fico actual, el da&ntilde;o clim&aacute;tico ya est&aacute; sucediendo o es inminente.<br /><br /> <strong>Available from: </strong><a href="https://doi.org/10.35295/osls.iisl/0000-0000-0000-1063" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.35295/osls.iisl/0000-0000-0000-1063</a>