About the Conference
This conference focuses on the threats of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss, and how these are associated with human rights primarily along three analytical dimensions: policy and normative developments, litigation, and civic action. There is a pressing need to learn from legal and civic practices and experiences and to reflect on conditions and modes of effective social action and legal effectiveness. The overall objective of the conference is to explore responses of international human rights law and civic efforts to protect individuals and communities against the effects of climate change, pollution and loss of biodiversity.
The conference will bring together researchers from law, social and environmental sciences with practitioners and policy-makers to discuss and explore strategies for protecting the environment, communities, and people affected.
This international conference is organised by the Research Group on Global Challenges to Human Rights Law, Policy and Practice at the Faculty of Law, University of Oslo.
Programme
26 October: Public Opening Session
The opening session on day one is now open to registration. Click on the link below for information about the event and how to register.
Keynote Speakers
- David R. Boyd, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment
- Professor Christina Voigt, Faculty of Law, UiO and Chair of the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law (WCEL)
- Professor Muhammed Tawfiq Ladan, Director General/CEO of the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, Abuja
26 and 27 October: Closed Working Sessions
This conference brings together researchers and practitioners for discussions around climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss and how these issues affect human rights. The discussions will be divided into three parallel working sessions on both Thursday, 26 October, and Friday, 27 October. The themes for the sessions are:
- Policy and normative developments
- Litigation
- Environmental defenders
The sessions provide a forum for discussion of academic research on human rights and planetary crises, and for exploring strategies for protecting and supporting human rights and environmental human rights defenders. We hope that these discussions will lead to publication of new research and contribute to identify processes and practices which may produce better outcomes for human rights and the environment.
The closed working sessions are mainly intended as a forum for discussion between researchers working with the abovementioned issues. Through a call for papers, a number of researchers have been invited to present their papers and share feedback with each other within each session. However, we have a limited number of spaces available for persons who wish to sit in on the closed sessions.
If you wish to sit in on a session, please register your interest through the link below. The deadline for registration of interest is 10 October.
Registration for working sessions
Note! Registration of interest through this form does not guarantee you a space in the session, as capacity is limited. We will contact persons who have registered to inform them of whether capacity allows for their attendance.
Further information
Questions about the conference can be posed by filling out this form: Inquiries - NCHR Conference 2023.