As the impacts of climate change continue to be felt across the globe, claimants are finding their ways to international and regional courts and tribunals to weigh in on this matter. The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) was the first to provide an Advisory Opinion in May 2024. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) are due to give their respective advisory opinions on climate change. In May 2025, the the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights (AfCHPR) was the fourth court to receive a request for an advisory opinion on climate change.
In the context of these consequential advisory proceedings, World’s Youth for Climate Justice has organised a Global Climate Justice Symposium consisting of a series of short contributions by university students from all across the world. The symposium offers a platform for the voices of the future to reflect on the advisory proceedings on climate change, with a particular focus on the ICJ Advisory Opinion which is expected to come out in summer 2025.
Six students who were enrolled in the course “Climate Change Litigation” in the spring 2025 semester wrote a contribution for the Geneva Graduate Institute’s contribution to this excellent initiative. Two students, Arista Dalal and Ruolin Zhang, are enrolled in the MA in International Law; two students, Carla Veiga Bezarra and Ashwaty Sunilkumar, are enrolled in the MA in International and Development Studies; and two students, Rose Sandford and Navaranjini Nadarajah, are enrolled in the LL.M. in International Law.
Anne Saab, Associate Professor of International Law and course instructor of the Climate Change Litigation course, acted as liaison between the organisers at World’s Youth for Climate Justice and the students who contributed to the symposium. This work was done beyond the formal coursework.
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Read the students' contributions, written throughout the months of March- July 2025:
- "Shaping the Future of the Right to a Healthy Environment: An Analysis of the Participation of Non-state Actors in the International", Carla Veiga Bezerra
- "Indigenous Rights and Climate Litigation: Using the ICJ Advisory Opinion to Strengthen Legal Claims", Arista Dalal
- "Progressive Application of Science in the ITLOS Climate Related Advisory Opinion", Navaranjini Nadarajah
- "Beyond Teitiota: Exploring Aotearoa New Zealand’s Engagement with the International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion", Rose Sandford
- "Indigenous Rights and Climate Litigation: Using the ICJ Advisory Opinion to Strengthen Legal Claims", Ashwaty Sunilkumar
- "Towards State Responsibility in the ICJ Climate Change Advisory Opinion? A Cross-Regime Analytical Perspective", Ruolin Zhang
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Learn more about the World’s Youth for Climate Justice (WYCJ), a global youth movement working to ensure that human rights and intergenerational equity are at the heart of all climate change litigation, policies, and negotiations.