The Climate Trial: Law and Justice on a Melting Planet
The Climate Trial: Law and Justice on a Melting Planet
by Noah Walker-Crawford
Duke University Press, 2026
ISBNs
Cloth: 978-1-4780-2972-4
Paper: 978-1-4780-3317-2
eISBN: 978-1-4780-9448-7 (OA)
eISBN: 978-1-4780-6191-5 (standard)
About the Book
Saúl Luciano Lliuya guides tours in the mountains and his family grow corn, wheat, barley, and potatoes on their farm in Huaraz, Peru, a community of more than 100,000 people in the Andes near Palcacocha, a glacial lake. Palcacocha, however, is growing, as is the major flood risk to Huaraz. Climate change through the emission of greenhouse gases continues to melt the Peruvian glaciers—greenhouse gases that come from corporate polluters not just in Peru, but across the industrialized world. So, Luciano Lliuya decided to sue. Although the German energy company RWE has never operated in Peru, Luciano Lliuya sought to hold the company, which uses coal power generation, liable for damages in a groundbreaking case that, despite being dismissed, established that major emitters can be held liable for climate harms. In The Climate Trial, anthropologist Noah Walker-Crawford draws on years of personal involvement with the lawsuit and extensive fieldwork in Peru and Germany to follow the people, legal strategies, scientific arguments, and political tensions that have shaped the trial. More than a courtroom drama, The Climate Trial is a deeply human story about moral responsibility in a changing world and what it means to be a “good neighbor” while living thousands of miles away.
About the Author
Noah Walker-Crawford is a research fellow at the London School of Economics and Imperial College London. He also advises litigants and NGOS on using legal tools to fight for climate justice.
Reviews
“Through an anthropologist’s lens, Noah Walker-Crawford brings the Lliuya v. RWE case to life and, in doing so, reframes climate litigation as a question of neighborliness and responsibility across scales. This vivid, deeply informed account shows how science, law, and lived experience meet in court—and why it matters for justice in a warming world. A compelling, essential read for lawyers, activists, and scholars alike.”
-- Joana Setzer, Associate Professor, LSE Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment
-- Joana Setzer, Associate Professor, LSE Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment
“The Climate Trial is a riveting, intimate account of juridical possibilities long thought impossible. Through clear, elegant prose, Walker-Crawford weaves together the suspense of a transnational legal drama with an impassioned analytic that unfolds how legal principles and strategies yielded an improbable case. The Climate Trial is a must read for those concerned about our planetary climate crisis and pathways for securing corporate accountability.”
-- Suzana Sawyer, author of The Small Matter of Suing Chevron
-- Suzana Sawyer, author of The Small Matter of Suing Chevron
"With precision and elegance, Walker-Crawford weaves together Luciano Lliuya’s story with complex debates on causation, evidence, and the role of law in the climate crisis. The result is a fascinating book."
-- Maxim Bönnemann Verfassungsblog
-- Maxim Bönnemann Verfassungsblog
"[The Climate Trial] is a fascinating and worthwhile read because it seeks to get to the bottom of a key question that has bedevilled climate diplomacy: who should ultimately take responsibility for climate change?"
-- Gavin O'Toole Latin American Review of Books
-- Gavin O'Toole Latin American Review of Books
Tags
Trials litigation etc, Environmental justice, Climate change mitigation, Environmental responsibility, Glaciers, Climate justice, Liability for climatic change damages, Peru, Environmental conditions, Caribbean & Latin American Studies, Law and legislation, Environmental Science, Chemistry, Environmental, Germany, Law, Cultural & Social, Social aspects, Anthropology, Cultural & Ethnic Studies, Science, Social Science
Open Access Information
Label: London School of Economics and Political Science
License: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
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