KnE Social Sciences

ISSN: 2518-668X

The latest conference proceedings on humanities, arts and social sciences.

Integrating Environmental Justice and Human Rights in Climate Law: A Systematic Review of the Protection of Vulnerable Communities

Published date: Oct 29 2025

Journal Title: KnE Social Sciences

Issue title: The 8th Legal International Conference and Studies (LICS 2025): Integrating Climate Change and Biodiversity into National & International Legislation—Harmonizing Knowledge

Pages: 480 - 491

DOI: 10.18502/kss.v10i26.20027

Authors:

Bambang Prasetyabambangprasetya4@gmail.comUniversitas Islam Sultan Agung (UNISSULA), Semarang

Abstract:

Climate change has become a global challenge that not only threatens environmental sustainability but also poses a profound impact on human rights, especially for vulnerable communities. This manuscript presents a systematic review of the current literature examining the integration of environmental justice and human rights in the context of climate law. The primary focus of this study is to identify how legal instruments can protect vulnerable populations from the negative impacts of climate change, with the principles of equality and justice. The results of the study indicate that significant developments have been made in integrating environmental law and human rights aspects. However, there is still a gap in practical implementation. The study provides strategic recommendations to strengthen an inclusive and equitable climate law framework. These findings are important for policymakers, academics, and legal practitioners in formulating adaptive and mitigating solutions to the climate crisis.

Keywords: climate, environmental, human rights, justice, protection, systematic

References:

[1] A, H. L. B., C, J. R. A. B., D, C. P. B., B, U. G. K., E, K. T., & E, Y. L. C. Mind, body, spirit : co-benefits for mental health from climate change adaptation and caring for country in remote Aboriginal Australian communities. 2010;21.

[2] Alston, M., Whittenbury, K., Haynes, A., & Godden, N. Are climate challenges reinforcing child and forced marriage and dowry as adaptation strategies in the context of Bangladesh? Women’s Studies International Forum, 2014;47(PA), 137–144. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wsif.2014.08.005.

[3] de Arruda Filho MT, Torres PH, Jacobi PR. A Systematic Review of the Literature on Climate Justice: A Comparison Between the Global North and South. Sustainability (Basel). 2024;16(22):9888.

[4] Atapattu S. The paris agreement and human rights: is sustainable development the ‘new human right’? J Hum Rights Environ. 2018;9(1):68–88.

[5] Backholer K, Baum F, Finlay SM, Friel S, Giles-Corti B, Jones A, et al. Australia in 2030: what is our path to health for all? Med J Aust. 2021 May;214(S8 Suppl 8):S5–40.

[6] Bardsley DK, Wiseman ND. Climate change vulnerability and social development for remote indigenous communities of South Australia. Glob Environ Change. 2012;22(3):713–23.

[7] Bataille CY, Malinen SK, Yletyinen J, Scott N, Lyver PO. Relational values provide common ground and expose multi-level constraints to cross-cultural wetland management. People Nat. 2021;3(4):941–60.

[8] Bowles P, Macphail F. Social Licence Comes to Greenland’s Mining Sector: Will Communities be Empowered? Arctic. 2021;74(4):496–508.

[9] Chauvin S, Salcedo Robledo M, Koren T, Illidge J. Class, mobility and inequality in the lives of same-sex couples with mixed legal statuses. J Ethn Migr Stud. 2021;47(2):430–46.

[10] da Silva Cabral VC, Gomes ET, Neto JP, de Melo Pedroso VA, de Lima LA, Rodrigues JO. Environmental refuge: a perspective of the economic context and legal recognition. Revista Brasileira de Geografia Fisica. 2023;16(5):2811–31.

[11] Ellis JM. Imagining Neurodivergent Futures from the Belly of the Identity Machine: Neurodiversity, Biosociality, and Strategic Essentialism. Autism Adulthood. 2023 Sep;5(3):225–35.

[12] England E. ‘It’s Not Just About a Rainbow Lanyard’: How Structural Cisnormativity Undermines the Enactment of Anti-Discrimination Legislation in the Welsh Homelessness Service. J Soc Policy. 2024;53(2):366–85.

[13] Facchinelli F, Pappalardo SE, Della Fera G, Crescini E, Codato D, Diantini A, et al. Extreme citizens science for climate justice: linking pixel to people for mapping gas flaring in Amazon rainforest. Environ Res Lett. 2022;17(2):024003.

[14] Favre B. Is there a need for a new, an ecological, understanding of legal animal rights? J Hum Rights Environ. 2020;11(2):297–319.

[15] Gagnon VS. “WATER AND ALL MY RELATIONS”: REIMAGINING INDIGENOUS WATER JUSTICE FOR SEVEN GENERATIONS. Hum Organ. 2023;82(3):274–87.

[16] Gutierrez KS, LePrevost CE. Climate justice in rural southeastern united states: A review of climate change impacts and effects on human health. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2016 Feb;13(2):189.

[17] Hanschel D, Aguilera Bravo MG, Dashpurev B, Idris AK. Environmental Rights between Constitutional Law and Local Context: Reflections on a Moving Target. German Law Journal. 2022;23(7):1012–28.

[18] Hoffman JS, Shandas V, Pendleton N. The effects of historical housing policies on resident exposure to intra-urban heat: A study of 108 US urban areas. Climate (Basel). 2020;8(1):1–15.

[19] Johansson V. Just Transition as an Evolving Concept in International Climate Law. J Environ Law. 2023;35(2):229–49.

[20] Kaplan-Hallam M, Bennett NJ. Adaptive social impact management for conservation and environmental management. Conserv Biol. 2018 Apr;32(2):304–14.

[21] Kuhl L, Kirshen PH, Ruth M, Douglas EM. Evacuation as a climate adaptation strategy for environmental justice communities. Clim Change. 2014;127(3–4):493–504.

[22] Lähteenmäki-Uutela A, Ituarte-Lima C, Turunen T, Ott A, Lonkila A, Haukioja T. Planetary Boundaries Nurturing the Grand Narrative of the Right to a Healthy Environment? Environ Policy Law. 2024;54(1):15–26.

[23] Lau Y, Quevedo JM. The Prospects of Participatory Research in Improving Climate Literacy: Insights from Experiences with Indigenous People and Local Communities. Environ Justice. 2024;env.2024.0031.

[24] Macchi C. The Climate Change Dimension of Business and Human Rights: The Gradual Consolidation of a Concept of “Climate Due Diligence.”. Business and Human Rights Journal. 2021;6(1):93–119.

[25] Manservisi F, Banzi M, Tonelli T, Veronesi P, Ricci S, Distante D, et al. Environmental complaint insights through text mining based on the driver, pressure, state, impact, and response (DPSIR) framework: evidence from an Italian environmental agency. Regional Sustainability. 2023;4(3):261–81.

[26] Nursey-Bray M, Palmer R. Country, climate change adaptation and colonisation: insights from an Indigenous adaptation planning process, Australia. Heliyon. 2018 Mar;4(3):e00565.

[27] Pereira R. Public participation, indigenous peoples’ land rights and major infrastructure projects in the Amazon: the case for a human rights assessment framework. Rev Eur Comp Int Environ Law. 2021;30(2):184–96.

[28] Rodrigues, C. B., Thomaz, E. B. A. F., Batista, R. F. L., Riggirozzi, P., de Oliveira Moreira, D. S., Gonçalves, L. L. M., & Lamy, Z. C. Prenatal care and human rights: Addressing the gap between medical and legal frameworks and the experience of women in Brazil. PLoS ONE, 2023;18(2 February). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0281581.

[29] Scott R. New Reproductive Technologies and Genetic Relatedness. Mod Law Rev. 2024;87(2):280–316.

[30] Skillington T. Climate change and the human rights challenge: extending justice beyond the borders of the nation state. Int J Hum Rights. 2012;16(8):1196–212.

[31] Whittingham J, McGarry D. Mapping for connection, a life beyond mapping for control: lessons from ‘mapping-as-performance’ with Empatheatre in South Africa. Front Mar Sci. 2024;11:1320493.