Temporalities in Crisis: Analysing the Sacchi v. Argentina Case and Children's Rights in the Climate Emergency

Abstract

This article examines the Sacchi v. Argentina case, a landmark legal action led by children against five states for their role in climate change, analysed through the lens of temporality. The case, brought before the Committee on the Rights of the Child, was pivotal in linking the climate crisis to children's rights, despite being ruled inadmissible. This paper explores the multiple temporalities inherent in the climate crisis, such as urgency, gradualness and intergenerational effects, and how they intersect with legal frameworks and children's unique experience of time. By focusing on the narratives and claims of the child petitioners, this study investigates the disproportionate impacts of climate change on younger generations and the ways in which the law constructs time, offering a new perspective on the relationship between human rights and environmental justice. The analysis contributes to the broader discourse on how to address children's rights within the growing field of climate litigation.