Symposia

Spring 2024: Symposium on the Environment and Human Rights

The Harvard Human Rights Journal is thrilled to be hosting the Symposium on the Environment and Human Rights on March 28th, 2024 at Harvard Law School! We are also grateful for the support of our sponsors: SADER Legal, the Salata Institute, and the Harvard Environmental & Energy Law Program.

This event is taking place as part of a Harvard Law School Climate Series. The next event is the African Climate Symposium, on March 29th, 2024.

Please find below the anticipated schedule for the Symposium on the Environment and Human Rights. Register here.

9:00 – 9:30
Introduction and Welcome Remarks
Location: Austin 100, Harvard Law School

9:30 – 10:30
Panel 1 – International Climate Negotiations: Protection of Environmental Rights
Location: Austin 100, Harvard Law School

Moderator: Professor Angela van der Berg, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, University of the Western Cape, and Director of the Global Environmental Law Centre, Bellville, South Africa
Speakers:

Dr. Patricia Mbote, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Nairobi, Kenya
Professor David Boyd, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights & the Environment, and Associate Professor of law, policy, and sustainability at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Dr. Fabiano de Andrade Correa, Co-Chair, Climate Change Law Specialist Group, IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law

11:00 – 12:00
Panel 2 – Advancements in the Environment & Business & Human Rights
Location: Austin 100, Harvard Law School

Moderator: Professor Tyler Giannini, Clinical Professor of Law, and the Director of the Human Rights Entrepreneurs Clinic, Harvard Law School
Speakers:

Dr. Pichamon Yeophantong, United Nations Working Group on Business & Human Rights (UN WGBHR), Geneva, Switzerland
Mr. Phil Bloomer, Executive Director, Business & Human Rights Resource Center, Oxford, England
Dr. Sara L Seck, Yogis & Keddy Chair in Human Rights Law, Schulich School of Law, and Director of the Marine & Environmental Law Institute, Dalhousie University
Ms. Takoua Tayari, Business & Human Rights National Analyst, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Tunisia

12:15 – 1:30
Panel 3 – Climate Litigation before Regional & International Courts
Location: Austin 100, Harvard Law School

Moderator: Dr. Yusra Suedi, Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in International Law, University of Manchester, United Kingdom
Speakers:

Professor Payam Akhavan, Professor of International Law and Human Rights Chair, Massey College, University of Toronto, Canada
Professor Benyam Dawit Mezmur, Professor of Law and Deputy Dean at the University of the Western Cape in Cape Town, South Africa
Professor Michael Burger, Executive Director, Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, Columbia University

1:30 – 2:30
Panel 4 – Climate Migration: Displacement in the Age of Climate Change
Location: Austin 100, Harvard Law School

Moderator: Professor Gerald Neuman, Harvard Law School J. Sinclair Armstrong Professor of International, Foreign, and Comparative Law, and the Director of the Human Rights Program at HLS
Speakers:

Professor Walter Kälin, Envoy of the Chair of the Platform on Disaster Displacement, University of Bern, Switzerland
Professor Kate Jastram, Sérgio Vieira de Mello Professor of International Refugee Law, University of California College of the Law, San Francisco, and Director of Policy, Center for Gender & Refugee Studies
Dr. Leila Hanafi, George Washington University/The World Bank, Washington, D.C.

3:15 – 4:15
Panel 5 – Human Rights Advocacy for Indigenous Rights & the Environment
Location: WCC 1019, Harvard Law School

Moderator: Professor Andrew Mergen, Emmett Visiting Assistant Clinical Professor of Law in Environmental Law, and Faculty Director, Emmett Environmental Law and Policy Clinic
Speakers:

Professor Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger, Chair in Sustainable Development Law and Policy, University of Cambridge; Law Fellow, Director of Studies and Programme Director, Lucy Cavendish College; Senior Director of the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law, Executive Secretary of the Climate Law and Governance Initiative for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and Chair of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, Biodiversity Law and Governance Initiative
Professor Wayne Garnons-Williams, Chair, International Trade and Investment Organization, Senior Lawyer & Principal Director, Garwill Law Professional Corporation, Principal Director, Indigenous Sovereign Trade Consultancy Ltd.
Professor Olanrewaju Fagbohun, SAN, Faculty of Law, Lagos State University and Director, Environmental Law Research Institute, Nigeria
Professor James R. May, Esq., Distinguished Professor of Law, Founder and Director, Global Environmental Rights Institute Co-Founder, Dignity Law Institute, Widener University, Delaware Law School, Delaware

4:15 – 4:30
Closing Remarks
Location: WCC 1019, Harvard Law School

5:00 – 6:30
Reception
Location: Milstein East, Harvard Law School

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