Climate Reparations and Legal Accountability: Bridging International Law and Environmental Justice

Abstract

This study aims to explore the legal, ethical, and institutional dimensions of climate reparations within international law, proposing an integrated framework that bridges legal accountability, environmental justice, and equitable redistribution. Employing a narrative review methodology with a descriptive analytical approach, the article synthesizes academic literature, international legal documents, and policy frameworks published between 2019 and 2024. Sources were selected from legal databases, climate governance archives, and peer-reviewed journals, focusing on themes such as state responsibility, loss and damage mechanisms, and human rights-based approaches. The analysis was structured thematically to trace the evolution of reparations discourse, assess the strengths and limitations of existing legal instruments, and identify key challenges and opportunities for institutional innovation. The review reveals that while existing international frameworks—such as the UNFCCC, the Paris Agreement, and human rights conventions—acknowledge the need for support to climate-vulnerable nations, they fall short in delivering enforceable reparative justice. Legal barriers including jurisdictional constraints, attribution of harm, and sovereignty concerns hinder the establishment of binding accountability mechanisms. Politically, tensions between high-emission and low-emission states and resistance to the notion of liability obstruct progress. Ethically, there is continued disagreement over responsibility, eligibility, and the scope of reparations. Practically, current funding mechanisms are inadequate, under-resourced, and lack transparency. The findings support the development of a holistic reparations model that integrates legal liability, climate finance, and restorative justice, emphasizing multilateralism, civil society engagement, and youth participation. Achieving climate reparations requires moving beyond fragmented and voluntary systems toward a globally coordinated, legally grounded, and ethically robust framework that centers the rights and needs of those most affected by climate change.