Event information

2 December 2024, 09:00-18:15

ICJ Oral Hearings on Climate Justice – Diplomatic Screening and Commentary | GEN @ 25

Event

Climate Justice Screening logos

 

On 2 December, the International Court of Justice will start holding its first-ever public hearings on States’ obligations with regard to climate change. On 29 March 2023, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution requesting the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to issue an Advisory Opinion on States’ obligations in respect of climate change. The resolution was the result of the leadership of Vanuatu and 18 other States. The resolution requests the ICJ to clarify States’ obligations with regard to climate change, with specific attention to vulnerable States and affected peoples and individuals, including future generations. The full text is available here in all official UN languages.

The International Court of Justice has now, for the first time in history, the mandate to address the obligations of States with regard to climate change, under multiple sources of law including international environmental law and human rights law.

From 2 to 13 December, the Court will hold public hearings. Ninety-eight States and twelve international organizations will be participating in the oral proceedings before the Court. These hearings are a turning point, setting the stage for the Court’s 2025 Advisory Opinion.

The Geneva Environment Network, the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), the Geneva Human Rights Platform, World’s Youth for Climate Justice (WYCJ), and Earthjustice have the pleasure of organizing a diplomatic screening of the first day of the public hearing, accompanied by a commentary by experts, intergovernmental representatives and State representatives from Geneva and the Hague.

The event is organized back to back with the Pushing Boundaries Through Collective Action: How Can Citizens Drive Systems Change and Catalyze Climate Action? | Climate Solutions to Keep 1.5° Alive | GEN @ 25 (starting at 15.30 CET in room XVII).

Details of the agenda and speakers, and the registration link for those wishing to attend in person can be found here.

The event will also be livestreamed on Youtube (Part 1 & Part 2).

MORE ON THIS THEMATIC AREA

Human Rights Tiles News

From Signals to Action: Strengthening the UN's Conflict Prevention Efforts

31 March 2025

Our recent research brief series explores how the United Nations' human rights system can enhance its role in early warning and conflict prevention.

Read more

News

New Working Paper Explores AI for Human Rights and SDG Monitoring

30 January 2025

A new working paper, 'AI Decoded: Key Concepts and Applications of Artificial Intelligence for Human Rights and SDG Monitoring', has been published by the Geneva Human Rights Platform.

Read more

AI for Good Event Event

AI for human rights: Smarter, faster, fairer monitoring

8 July 2025, 14:00-16:00

The event, as part of the AI for Good Summit 2025 will explore how AI tools can support faster data analysis, help uncover patterns in large datasets, and expand the reach of human rights work.

Read more

United Nations Geneva Event

‘Urgency Measures’ to face a triple crisis – what insights can be taken from the Treaty Body strengthening process?

4 June 2025, 13:30-15:00

This side event represents a critical opportunity to reflect on the innovative approaches taken through the treaty body strengthening process and to consider the future direction of the treaty body system.

Read more

Town Hall Meeting Training

Localizing International Human Rights

8-10 October 2025

This training course, specifically designed for staff of city and regional governments, will explore the means and mechanisms through which local and regional governments can interact with and integrate the recommendations of international human rights bodies in their concrete work at the local level.

Read more

A general view of participants during of the 33nd ordinary session of the Human Rights Council. Training

The Universal Periodic Review and the UN Human Rights System: Raising the Bar on Accountability

10-14 November 2025

This training course will explore the origin and evolution of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) and its functioning in Geneva and will focus on the nature of implementation of the UPR recommendations at the national level.

Read more

Panel Discussion: Project

Treaty Body Members’ Platform

Started in January 2014

The Treaty Body Members’ Platform connects experts in UN treaty bodies with each other as well as with Geneva-based practitioners, academics and diplomats to share expertise, exchange views on topical questions and develop synergies.

Read more

Sign: National Human Rights Commission of Nepal Project

Local Implementation of Global Human Rights

Started in May 2020

The Geneva Human Rights Platform collaborates with a series of actors to reflect on the implementation of international human rights norms at the local level and propose solutions to improve uptake of recommendations and decisions taken by Geneva-based human rights bodies at the local level.

Read more

Cover page of the working paper Publication

AI Decoded: Key Concepts and Applications of Artificial Intelligence for Human Rights and SDG Monitoring

published on January 2025

Milica Mirkovic, Jennifer Victoria Scurrell

Read more

Cover Page of Research Brief Publication

United Nations Treaty Body Individual Communications Procedures: What Is at Stake in the Strengthening Process?

published on October 2024

Claire Callejon

Read more