Citizens, policymakers, and organizations struggle to find effective solutions to wicked problems, such as global warming, the survival of species, and conflicts around the value attributed to ecosystems. Could courts solve problems that have not been solved by governments or international
organizations? Is it an option for courts to attribute legal personality to ecosystems?
The ERC project Curiae Virides (Curiae Virides) investigates how conflicts emerging from actual or potential adverse ecological impacts that cross physical and/or jurisdictional borders transform into lawsuits, what their nature is, which path is followed, and who activates this transformation. Ultimately, Curiae Virides investigates the outcome of triggering courts for the affected persons of these impacts. Particularly, what happens with the affected persons when these lawsuits were lodged by ecological movements that seek primarily to nudge policymakers and leading companies of value chains to keep the economy working within the “safe space to operate” according to the planetary boundaries framework (Rockström et al. 2009)?
Although multilateral agreements have been regulating the most important hazards of global economic activities for more than 50 years, the reality is that the Earth system is at serious risk of undergoing structural changes with consequences for ecosystems and present and future generations. Curiae Virides focuses on the micro realities of these global challenges: how transnational ecological conflicts reach courts and whether this option represents an effective alternative strategy vis-à-vis regulations and voluntary corporate accountability schemes that allegedly lack effectiveness.
Curiae Virides explores crucial aspects on the role of courts regarding the preservation of ecosystems: firstly, how ecological conflicts are being transformed into legal cases that aim to protect ecosystems. It investigates who the main actors are, such as those who bring forward claims, the allegedly responsible, the stakeholders and the affected rightsholders. Curiae Virides also inquires whether alternative approaches, like grievance mechanisms, are an option compared to traditional court proceedings.
Secondly, Curiae Virides examines how social and ecological movements and other stakeholders (SEMS) operate. It delves into how these networks are changing the landscape of social litigation, the scope of ecocentric case law, which refers to legal decisions that attribute an intrinsic or existential value to ecosystems.
Thirdly, Curiae Virides investigates the capacity of courts to handle legal cases involving complex aspects, such as ecological adverse impacts attributed to global value chain operations. The project focuses on the quality of the decisions made by these courts from legal, economic, and ecological perspectives.
Finally, Curiae Virides investigates the outcomes of these legal actions, this is, what they have achieved, and whether the idea of using lawsuits to address gaps in environmental governance has a broader positive impact on the accessibility of remedies for victims of ecological harm.
