The Right to Development and Climate Justice: The Nigerian Approach

Abstract

The individual concepts of the right to development and climate justice have been the subject of much literature. However, the intersection of both concepts remains an emerging discourse. This thesis considers how the implementation of each of the two independent concepts affects the full actualization of the other. It situates itself within the Nigerian jurisdiction to analyse how the implementation of the right to development hinders the attainment of climate justice and vice versa. It argues that the weak response to climate change has impacted the right of the people to reach optimum development. It further argues that the basic objectives of the right to development as advanced by the United Nations are not heeded, and the consequence thereof is climate injustice. The thesis argues that where proper policies aligning both the right to development and climate justice are formulated and implemented, then their individual objectives can be better realized.