In December 2023, a paper titled “The Rights of and Obligations towards Future Generations,” authored by Professor Yumiko Nakanishi of the Graduate School of Law, was published in Representing the Absent. In this paper, Professor Nakanishi focuses on climate change issues and discusses the rights of future generations and the obligations towards them from the perspective of environmental protection. Professor Nakanishi first examines the rights of future generations, clarifying where these rights can be derived from. She then analyzes the obligations of the state towards future generations, particularly in the context of climate change litigation, explaining why states have to protect the environment for future generations. Finally, by reviewing legal documents and climate change rulings, she discusses the obligations of the present generation towards future generations, arguing that these rights and obligations should not remain fictitious but must be made concrete.

https://www.nomos-elibrary.de/10.5771/9783748918646/representing-the-absent