A conference at the Norwegian Center for Human Rights 26-27 October 2023
Participants from all continents met virtually or in-person to present and discuss more than 30 research papers on policy and normative developments in the field of climate change and human rights, climate litigation, and environmental defenders.
The conference aimed to explore how international human rights law and civic action can help protect individuals and communities from the impacts of the planetary crises.
The conference had more than 50 participants. The opening ceremony with panel discussions was held in Domus Bibliotecha at the Faculty of Law, with almost 100 people attending.
Uniting the Environmental and Human Rights Communities
Christina Voigt delivered a keynote speech on how the adverse effects of climate change and mitigation actions by States are related to the enjoyment of human rights. With reference to experience from negotiating the Paris Agreement, she stated that:
“Since 2015, we have seen a significant development in this field, in particular the recognition of the existence of a human right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment [...], which integrates not just two discourses, but also two groups of people [the environmental and the human rights community] that traditionally have worked quite in silo. Bringing these two groups together, as we have here at the conference, is a very important first step to integrate [climate] policies and laws."
Common but Differentiated Responsibilities
The principle of common but differentiated responsibilities (CBDR) in international environmental law establishes that while all states share responsibility for addressing global environmental destruction, they are not equally responsible. Muhammed highlighted this principle in his keynote by stating:
"It is true that we are all in it together, and we must all collectively, as people of the planet F, find solutions to address the crisis [..], but in the narrative, we also need to take into consideration some historical facts and current facts, and that is why I emphasize a common, we are all in it together, but differentiated, in terms of the impacts and strategies for us to push for climate action, responsibility”
The Need for Civic Action
In the panel discussion, Inga Marie Nymo Riseth highlighted that even though we see an acknowledgment of indigenous knowledge and culture, civic action is essential in pushing through climate mitigation actions, which are also in line with human rights. She exemplified this importance by stating that:
“We need environmental defenders, we need civic action because it was first after massive protests, where activists, using civil disobedience, shot down the government quarter here in Oslo and protested for one whole week, that the Norwegian government admitted that [the construction of wind farms on Fosen peninsula] was a human rights violation.”
