Book your ticket now
Attend the Open Future Festival on October 5th 2019 in Chicago and
Manchester. Limited places available. Scan the QR code to register
or visit Economist.com/festivalWhat fundamental economic and political change, if any,
is needed for an effective response to climate change?
Congratulations to
the winner of our youth
essay competition
Winner
Larissa Parker, 25
Montreal, Canada
Our thanks to the nearly 2,400 entrants, including the finalists.
short-listed finalists: Gonzalo Fernandez-Codina, Daevan Mangalmurti,
Sanaa Mariam, Jeremiah Milbauer and Hank Sparks
long-listed finalists: Denzel Chung, Tomas Green, Nicholas Hulbert, Hassam Khattak,
Hannah Kirk, Antje Lang, Emily McDermott, Joanna Nowinska, Olga Okhotinskaya,
Toure Owen, Drew Pendergrass, Jacob Smessaert, Prakhar Tripathi and Emanuel ZbedaGivefuturegenerationslegalrights
for the most part, only current generations have legal
standing to sue; and to do so, they have to prove the impacts
that they have experienced or are experiencing. This is problematic
in the context of climate change because the effects
of greenhouse-gas emissions take decades to manifest themselves.One solution is to recognise the rights of future generations
to a healthy environment, which would open the door for
lawsuits on climate inaction and keep governments accountable
to their commitments under international law. If a government
doesnottakesufficientactiononclimatechangenow,then
itis...violatingtheirrightstoa healthyenvironment.Read the full essay at Economist.com/essaywinner