Property, negligence, and the intergenerational inequity of climate change

Abstract

The recent decision of the United States District Court in Kelsey Cascade Rose Juliana et al v The United States of America¹ (‘Kelsey’) denied a motion to dismiss a suit brought on the basis of damages for future harms, suggesting that the law could be capable of developing in a novel way to allow claims on the basis of future harm from climate change. This article addresses the way in which such future harm may be conceived as part of a negligence claim, grounded in private property rights afforded by government.