Research Information System
in: Research Handbook on European Anti-Discrimination Law, Colm O’Cinneide,Julie Ringelheim,Iyiola Solanke, Editor, Edward Elgar , London, pp.461-481, 2025
In this chapter, we look into the relevance of anti-discrimination law for environmental policy and litigation in Europe. We look at key variables such as the relevant protected grounds and their degree of protection, including for example socio-economic disadvantage, or the range of potentially relevant rights in relation to which environmental discrimination can be claimed. We distinguish “differential exposure” from “differential vulnerability” cases, discussing why it matters. We provide illustrations of each type of case in the European context. This includes Roma cases in front of both the European Court of Human Rights and the European Committee for Social Rights. It also includes cases of pregnancy-related vulnerability in harmful working environments in front of the Court of Justice of the European Union or of climate-induced disability worsening in front of the European Court of Human Rights. Finally, we devote a section to age discrimination as a possible ground to challenge climate inaction. We discuss the importance and possibility of framing the issue as one of both discrimination between age groups and of discrimination between birth cohorts. And we focus on four recent European climate cases. We conclude that the relevance of anti-discrimination law for environmental policy is non-negligible in the European context.