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Amsterdam Centre for European Law and Governance Amsterdam Centre for European Law and Governance

Climate Change on Trial: Mobilizing Human Rights to Accelerate Climate Action

This book workshop will focus on the forthcoming book by César Rodríguez-Garavito, which tells the twenty-year socio-legal story of human rights-based climate (HRC) litigation. Based on an original database of the totality of HRC lawsuits around the world as well as interviews with leading actors and participant observation in the field, it explains the rise and global diffusion of HRC litigation as a form of climate governance. Experts in the field will serve as discussants for the book; for those not serving as official commentators, the author will provide a detailed overview of the book at the beginning of the workshop.
Date
23 August 2024
Time
09:00 -17:00

Climate Change on Trial

The book combines insights from global governance, international law, climate policy, human rights, and legal mobilization theory in order to offer a sociolegal account of the actors, strategies, and norms that have emerged at the intersection of human rights and climate governance. By proposing a broad understanding of the impacts of legal mobilization that includes direct and indirect, material and symbolic effects, it documents the contributions and shortcomings of human rights litigation in addressing the climate emergency.

About the author

César Rodríguez-Garavito is Professor of Clinical Law and Chair of the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice at NYU School of Law. He is the founding director of the Earth Rights Research and Action program and clinic, the Future of Rights and Governance (FORGE) program, the Climate Law Accelerator, and the More Than Human Rights (MOTH) project, all housed at NYU School of Law. Professor Rodríguez-Garavito is a human rights and environmental justice scholar and practitioner whose work focuses on global governance, climate change, socioeconomic rights, business and human rights, Indigenous peoples' rights, and the human rights movement.

Programme

9:30am – 10:30am: The Making of a Field: Explaining the Rights Turn in Climate Litigation (Chapters 1 & 2)

  • Laura Burgers (University of Amsterdam)
  • Kelly Matheson (Our Children’s Trust)
  • Elisa Morgera (UN Special Rapporteur on human rights & climate change)

11am – 12:30pm: The Shape of the Field: Issues, Venues, Actors, and Strategies (Chapter 3)

  • Laura Duarte (European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights)
  • Louise Fournier (Greenpeace International)
  • Harj Narulla (Doughty Street Chambers) [online]
  • Maud Sarlieve (University of Strathclyde)

2pm – 3:30pm: The Evolving Doctrines, Standards, and Jurisprudence of Rights-Based Climate Litigation (Chapter 4)

  • Michelle Jonker-Argueta (Greenpeace International)
  • Sarah Mead (Climate Litigation Network)
  • Margaretha Wewerinke-Singh (University of Amsterdam

4pm – 5:30pm: Wrapping It All Up: Impacts and Conclusions (Chapters 5 & 6)

  • Basak Cali (University of Oxford) [online]
  • Christina Eckes (University of Amsterdam)
  • Phillip Paiement (Tilburg University)
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