5th ISA Forum of Sociology (6-11 July 2025)

Climate litigation and environmental justice are becoming key issues in our contemporary societies for two interrelated reasons. On one hand, to maintain consensus, political institutions often choose not to address the controversial issues related to climate change, delegating their resolution to the "justice systems" – all the institutional and individual actors involved in the delivery of justice) in both national and international contexts. On the other hand, the ability of justice systems to respond to the new environmental legal needs impacts the protection of rights and the well-being of present and future generations.

Justice systems are increasingly under pressure to decide on divisive environmental issues that, if not properly addressed, risk undermining the legitimacy of not only judicial institutions but also the very social contract on which our societies are founded. However, legal and judicial institutions are structured to address traditional legal issues, and justice operators often lack expertise to respond to new justice demands. In the Anthropocene, new forms of knowing – in a relational sense – are necessary to retrace the complex connections between society, environment, and law.

This session aims to explore whether and how justice systems in both the Global South and North can respond to the new demands for environmental justice. It welcomes papers on: environmental legal needs and access to justice; the contribution of informal institutions; the role of media and citizens' associations; the transformation of legal professions' activities; interactions with other knowledge systems, and the impact and sustainability of judicial decisions.