The Care-ful Work of Climate Litigation: A Study of Women Climate Defenders

Climate litigation, often led by women, requires demanding work with little acknowledgement or support. The article argues that this work is a form of caring labour aimed at reproducing human society as well as the environment within which we are enmeshed. Rethinking care as including the environment draws from Indigenous ideas of ‘care for Country’, ecofeminist conceptions of our relationality with the rest of nature, and some versions of social reproduction theory. Broader ideas of care can help to challenge anthropocentricism in our legal frameworks as well as promote improved recognition of caring labour in law. This argument emerges from a study of women climate defenders who engaged in litigation in Australia. The article documents six court cases and discusses the interview responses of the women who led these to consider the following: their motivations for doing this work; their experience of the legal process; the relevance of gender in their work as well as their thoughts on this work as care or ‘care for Country’; and their ideas for improved support for this work. The article suggests that the views and actions of these women inspire future consideration of ways of supporting climate defence while embedding environmental responsibilities in law.