The Quest for Climate Justice Between Theory and International Law

The climate crisis threatens all beings and can only be overcome through collective action and interconnectedness. The idea of interconnectedness with the world and the relation between humans and non-humans have been analyzed in the discourses of environmental ethics and care ethics. Climate justice requires gendered, feminist, and anti-colonial discussions. In the environmental context, feminist care ethics advocates for a conscientious approach, enabling communities to independently care for both their own well-being and the well-being of their environment. Indigenous ethics positions humans as part of a broader community of beings, portraying them as the children of Mother Earth. It emphasizes the significance of acknowledging our place within a complex web of relationships with other beings. In the first part of my dissertation, I will argue that human beings inherently care, and taking care of one's world with everything within it will eventually mean caring for the environment. To support my argument, I will be addressing the Arendtian notion of worldliness and will connect it to different ethical theories to examine what it means to have a world, why should one take care of it, and in which ways. In the second part, I will be addressing the international legal framework to analyze the current state of environmental care on an international level. Ultimately, I will try to explore both the obstacles and the motivations for collective care for the environment.