Uncovering Global South Narratives in Itlos Advisory Proceedings on Climate Change: A Mixed-Method Approach for Articulating Political and Legal Argum

This book explores how Global South states shape narratives on climate change in international courts and tribunals. Specifically, it examines Global South narratives advanced before the ITLOS advisory proceedings on climate change, which provide a platform for states to frame their political positions and influence legal discourse on global issues.

Through the lens of international law and politics, this study investigates how narratives--rooted in historical experiences and contemporary vulnerabilities--serve as tools for articulating and influencing legal outcomes. While recognizing the diversity of voices within the Global South, the book explores whether a shared history of colonialism and varying degrees of climate vulnerability play a significant role in forming cohesive narratives in the ITLOS advisory proceedings on climate change.

The book develops a unique methodological approach, which goes beyond international law and deploys social science techniques to critically assess states’ narratives before ICTs. It examines the Global South’s submissions to the ITLOS alongside their political discourse at the UNFCCC’s COPs 26, 27, and 28. This innovative method explores the intersection of law and politics and reveals how these states articulate their positions across different arenas, highlighting the strategic deployment of legal arguments within broader climate governance initiatives.

Offering a deep analysis of how narratives advanced before international courts and tribunals intersect with global climate politics and may shape decision-making processes, this book is essential for scholars, policymakers, and practitioners in international law, international relations, climate politics, and global governance.

Paula Wojcikiewicz Almeida is Professor of International Law at the Getulio Vargas Foundation Law School in Rio de Janeiro. She is the Director of the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence on EU-South America Global Governance, sponsored by the European Commission at the Getulio Vargas Foundation Law School. She also serves as the Director of the Centre for Global Law at the Getulio Vargas Foundation Law School. Associate Researcher at the Institute of International and European Law at the Sorbonne (IREDIES). She holds a doctorate with honors summa cum laude in International and European Law from the Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne.

Vitor Furtado de Melo is aresearcher at FGV Rio Law’s Centre for Global Law and a Master’s degree candidate in Social Anthropology at the National Museum/Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (MN/UFRJ). He holds a Master’s degree in Political Science from the Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro (UNIRIO) and an LL.B in Law from the Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro (UNIRIO).

Lucas Vollers is a researcher at FGV Rio Law’s Centre for Global Law. He holds a master’s degree in international law at the Rio de Janeiro State University (UERJ) and an LL.B. in law from the Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio).

Valentine Tissot Pinheiro holds an LL.M. in Public International Law (International and European Law) from the University of Amsterdam and an LL.B. in Law from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS).