Stockholm Series #8: Repainting the Climate Justice Canvas: How the World’s Highest Courts are Leading the Way

This initiative is a cooperation between renowned Stockholm-based institutions with a particular focus on climate change and democracy from different perspectives. It aims to inform, inspire, and engage experts and the general public alike by providing high-profile public lectures on the climate-democracy nexus, followed by debate.

Repainting the Climate Justice Canvas: How the World’s Highest Courts are Leading the Way with Christina Voigt, Professor of Law, University of Oslo, and Chair, IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law.

International courts are transforming how we understand responsibility for the climate crisis. Recent groundbreaking advisory opinions show that climate obligations expand far beyond the Paris Agreement. What was once a narrow frame has become a broad canvas for climate justice, including the law of the sea, human rights, and customary international law. Through innovative and strong pronouncements on the overlapping, multifaceted, and interconnected obligations of states, have international courts brought us to a legal turning point? What does it mean for national courts and the growing phenomenon of climate litigation? And who are the voices driving this evolving legal landscape?

The lecture will be opened by Kevin Casas-Zamora, Secretary-General, International IDEA, and followed by a conversation with Ida Edling, Spokesperson and Legal and Scientific Coordinator, Aurora.

The event will conclude with a networking reception at 17:30 CET.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at climate@idea.int.