McGill Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism and the Chair participate in the Inter-American Court’s public hearing on the advisory opinion on climate change and human rights

In January of 2023, the States of Chile and Colombia requested the Inter-American Court to issue an advisory opinion on “climate emergency and human rights.[1]” This advisory opinion seeks to provide guidance, based on the Inter-American corpus juris, about the scope of States’ obligations to address the impacts of climate change on human rights. In this line, in March of 2023, the Inter-American Court asked different stakeholders, including States, civil society organizations, ethnic-racial organizations and movements, academic institutions, and individuals, among others, to submit written observations or amici curiae to the Court.

In this context, the McGill Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism and the University of Montreal Faculty of Law’s Canada Research Chair in Human Rights and International Reparative Justice, under the leadership and supervision of Professor Frédéric Mégret and Professor Miriam Cohen, joined efforts to build a work team of doctoral and post-doctoral researchers to draft written observations for the Court. Our amicus curiae was submitted on October 19, 2023.[2]

In our amicus curiae, we focused on analyzing the scope of States’ obligations to address the disproportionate impact of climate change on Indigenous and Black communities/peoples in the Americas, with a particular emphasis on Latin America. Importantly, we underscored that States have a reinforced or strengthened obligation to protect these communities and their members who engage in activities and actions as human rights defenders to protect their environment, their territories, and fight against climate change.

Subsequently, in February of 2024, the Inter-American Court invited those who submitted written observations to participate in public hearings in Barbados in April of 2024, and in the cities of Brasilia and Manaus in Brazil in May of 2024.[3] The McGill Centre and the Chair decided to accept this important invitation. In this respect, both institutions supported the participation of the four individuals who worked on the drafting of the written observation: Laura Baron-Mendoza, Jose Saldaña-Cuba, Nancy Tapias-Torrado, and Yuri Alexander Romaña-Rivas. They partook in the public hearings in Manaus, Brazil, on May 28, 2024. In their oral presentations,[4] they asked the Court to declare and recognize that climate justice must be understood as ethnic-racial justice, meaning that in addressing the impact of climate change, extraordinary efforts need to be undertaken to address the underlying causes, such as structural racism, that make these communities or peoples more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. We pointed out that the scientific and academic evidence indicates that these historical and structural inequalities are rooted in the legacies of colonialism and enslavement.

The Inter-American Court has highlighted that this advisory opinion’s oral hearings have been the ones “with the largest participation in the history of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.[5]” Thus, the McGill Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism and the University of Montreal’s Canada Research Chair in Human Rights and International Reparative Justice take pride in having contributed to this historical moment of the Inter-American System on Human Rights.

[1] Request of Advisory Opinion on Climate Emergency and Climate Change to the Inter-American Court on Human rights by the Republic of Chile and the Republic of Colombia. Available in Spanish at https://www.corteidh.or.cr/docs/opiniones/soc_1_2023_es.pdf

[2] Written observation on request for advisory opinion CDH-OC-1-2023/561: Regarding the “Climate Emergency and Human Rights,” question E. Available in Spanish at: https://www.mcgill.ca/humanrights/files/humanrights/amicus_curiae_chrlp_chairhr_.pdf

[3] Inter-American Court on Human Rights, “Order of the President of the  Inter-American Court of Human Rights”:  Request for Advisory Opinion OC-32 on Climate Emergency and Human Rights presented by the Republic of Chile and the Republic of Colombia. Available at:   https://corteidh.or.cr/docs/asuntos/solicitud_22_02_2024_eng.pdf

[4] Oral presentation peaking at 1:28:40, and were asked questions at 2:09:52. Available in Spanish at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=4yuPC2hMY1w

[5]Inter-American Court on Human Right, “HISTORIC SESSIONS IN BRAZIL: HEARING ON CLIMATE EMERGENCY CONCLUDES.” Available at: https://www.corteidh.or.cr/comunicados_prensa.cfm?lang=es&n=2040 , https://corteidh.or.cr/docs/comunicados/cp_36_2024_eng.pdf

This content has been updated on 12 June 2024 at 23 h 17 min.