Associate Professor Jolene Lin wins ESIL Collaborative Book Prize and ANZSIL Book Prize

While climate change litigation in developed countries of the Global North is a well-studied phenomenon, few studies focus on climate case law emerging elsewhere. With Litigating Climate Change in the Global South, Associate Professor Jolene Lin Grad. Dip. Sing. Law ’05 sheds light on emerging and accelerating climate litigation in developing countries across the three regions of Africa, Asia and Latin America. 

This groundbreaking monograph co-authored with Professor Jacqueline Peel from Melbourne Law School—and published only last year—has already won double distinctions. As the first monograph comprehensively analysing climate litigation in the Global South, it was most recently awarded the 2025 European Society of International Law (ESIL) Collaborative Book Prize at the annual ESIL conference in Berlin, held on 13 September.

Earlier in the year, it won the 2025 Australian and New Zealand Society of International Law (ANZSIL) Book Prize.

This pioneering book is the first comprehensive study of climate litigation in regions often underrepresented in the global legal discourse on climate change. Building on the authors’ influential 2019 article in the American Journal of International Law, the book expands our understanding of climate litigation as a truly global phenomenon and foregrounds the legal innovation and agency emerging in Global South jurisdictions.

Anchored in rich empirical analysis, the monograph examines three in-depth case studies: India, South Africa and Brazil. The authors identify these countries as “front-runner jurisdictions” due to the growing volume and legal significance of climate-related cases emerging from their courts. Through interviews, social media analyses and the authors’ extensive research networks, the book uncovers previously undocumented or underexplored cases, offering a richer picture of how climate litigation operates in diverse socio-political contexts.

A distinctive aspect of the book lies in how it redefines the notion of “impact” in climate litigation. The authors argue that courtroom victories are only one part of the story. In many instances, even unsuccessful cases can generate meaningful outcomes. Associate Professor Lin said, “Many of them have lost cases in the courtroom but actually feel they’ve won… The case continued to be discussed in the media. It continued to be a focus point for further action and discussion about what we need to do on climate change. And to them, that was a win.”

While both authors are not based in the Global South, they emphasised the importance of creating space for Global South scholars and practitioners to shape this conversation. Of the awards, Associate Professor Lin said, “This book was a labour of love which was largely written and completed during the Covid-19 pandemic. We are very grateful to all the people who supported this book in many ways: our interviewees, our publisher, our research assistants, our families. We are deeply honoured to receive these two book prizes.”

The ESIL Collaborative Book Prize recognises collaborative works that offer new perspectives and insights into international law, while the ANZSIL Book Prize recognises works of significance, originality and rigour in public and private international law.