What narratives and framings determine the interpretation of human rights in the face of climate change? Foregrounding the example of the European Court of Human Rights, this lecture by Professor Corina Heri examines human rights law’s interpretative ethic as determined by a narrative of scarcity. This narrative juxtaposes infinite human needs and wants with limited national and judicial resources, thereby restricting human rights protection – in both theory in practice – in service to a particular kind of economic thinking. Using the Court’s climate cases as a focal point, Heri argues for a refiguring of scarcity, one that re-centers the limited and ever-shrinking possibilities of addressing environmental breakdown.