How do international courts' legal advisory opinions shape climate action and human rights?

The Netherlands Network for Human Rights Research (NNHRR) Working Group on Human Rights & the Climate Crisis held their annual conference on 6 November 2025 with the theme “Legal Advisory Opinions Shaping Climate Action and Human Rights”. Dr Julie Fraser and Dr Anneloes Kuiper were part of the organising team from Utrecht University. The conference attracted some 60 participants working in various domains on the climate/rights nexus.

The focus of the conference was two contemporary Advisory Opinions by international courts regarding human rights and the climate crisis. The first was issued by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights on 29 May 2025, and the second by the International Court of Justice on 23 July 2025. The conference explored the implications of these advisory opinions and the evolving legal landscape on human rights and the climate emergency. 

The conference was opened by Dr Otto Spijkers, Leiden University College, and featured two keynotes by Dr. Maria Antonia Tigre, Director of Global Climate Change Litigation at the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, Columbia University USA, and Prof Fons Coomans, Emeritus Professor and UNESCO chair of Human Rights and Peace at Maastricht University, The Netherlands.

Panellists reflected on key issues including the legal status of the international right to a healthy environment, and how to conceptualise and protect the human rights of future generations. Panellists also explored how to remedy the violation of rights including the obligation for reparations. Discussions here included the colonial dimension of climate change and the disparities between the Global North and South.

Participants also looked forward to the potential impact of these opinions at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP30) being held this month in Brazil, as well as upon the forthcoming advisory opinion requested under the African Charter of Human and People’s Rights. The conference closed with a keynote lecture by Prof Nico Schrijver, Emeritus Professor of Public International Law at Leiden University, The Netherlands.

Co-sponsors

The conference was co-sponsored by the Utrecht Centre for Water, Oceans and Sustainability Law (UCWOSL), Netherlands Institute of Human Rights (SIM) and Utrecht Centre for Accountability and Liability Law (UCALL).