Age and Intergenerational Justice

Elders for Climate

Older people increasingly mobilize around intergenerational climate justice. Grands-Parents pour le Climat (Grandparents for Climate) organizes elders supporting youth climate movements. They bring historical perspective, time for sustained activism, and moral authority as concerned grandparents.

"We lived through the Trente Glorieuses when consumption exploded," reflects Thérèse Delfel, 75-year-old climate activist. "We have responsibility to younger generations for the world we're leaving them." Elder activists use their relative economic security and social respect to take risks, including civil disobedience.

Intergenerational organizing creates powerful alliances. When youth climate strikers faced criticism for missing school, grandparents joined them, asking "What's the point of education without a future?" These alliances challenge age segregation in social movements.

Children's Environmental Rights

Children's particular vulnerability to environmental harm drives new legal approaches. Lawsuits on behalf of future generations challenge inadequate climate policies. The principle of intergenerational equity gains legal recognition, though implementation remains limited.

Youth from environmentally degraded areas articulate their experiences powerfully. Children from Fos-sur-Mer, surrounded by petrochemical plants, created videos documenting their reality: constant odors, elevated cancer rates among classmates, dreams of elsewhere. Their testimony humanizes statistical abstractions about environmental health.