Paper short abstract:

This research interrogates the local impact of transnational litigation, legal opportunities for climate and environmental rights protection for mining host communities, and lessons from the jurisprudence of Zambian superior courts for global climate litigation and environmental rights discourse.

Paper long abstract:

The mining industry is essential for climate change mitigation and adaptation, not least because of diverse value chains linked to it. Mining contributes significantly to Zambia’s Gross Domestic Product and foreign exchange earnings. Local host communities enjoy direct economic benefits and infrastructural development. However, vulnerable populations within host communities often experience disproportionate negative externalities, including human rights violations and environmental injustice. Affected communities have instituted several cases seeking justice in domestic courts and foreign jurisdictions, including the UK and South Africa. In a landmark ruling in 2019, the UK Supreme Court was receptive to a Zambian community’s claim based on pollution from a mine, with the mine operator and its UK-based parent company as respondents. The companies subsequently settled the lawsuit outside the court process without argument of the substantive suit; they did not admit liability. Another Zambian community has recently initiated a class action against Anglo American for lead mining pollution. Anglo American was a minority shareholder in the facility until nationalisation by the Zambian government in 1974. The case, instituted in South Africa, raises important questions of corporate liability for historical harm and the legal duty of care to host communities. High legal costs and inherent weaknesses in the domestic legal system are critical drivers of transnational litigation. This research interrogates the local impact of transnational litigation, legal opportunity structures for climate and environmental rights protection for mining host communities, and lessons from the jurisprudence of Zambian superior courts for global climate litigation and environmental rights discourse.