Abstract

This paper brings «tort-based» and «law-based» climate litigation into dialogue from the perspective of transcending the public/private law divide. The major goal is to show how the two fields are deeply rooted and mutually influential. To this end, the research focuses in particular on the recent strand of youth-led climate litigation. Three paradigmatic youth-led cases are considered to illustrate the potential of rights-based controversies to promote the principle of intragenerational justice in private law scenarios. From an intersectional point of view, it is argued that the relativizing power of youth claims could be the spark that one day ignites the protection of the needs of the new climate subaltern classes, workers in the lead.