Nouwagnon Olivier Afogo, Maria Antonia Tigre, Armando Rocha et Miriam Cohen, (2025) “Defining Climate Justice in the African Human Rights System: On the Climate Advisory Opinion Request to the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights”, VerfBlog.
Résumé : On 2 May 2025, the Pan African Lawyers Union (PALU) – in collaboration with the African Climate Platform, the Environmental Lawyers Collective for Africa, Natural Justice, and resilient40 – submitted a request to the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights for an advisory opinion on States’ obligations in relation to climate change (see here). This request builds upon a growing transnational trend of climate-related advisory proceedings, following the recent requests to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR), and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) (see here and here). Taken together, these initiatives signal an emerging effort to turn to international courts to clarify the legal responsibilities of States in addressing the human and environmental consequences of climate change. The request represents a pivotal moment for African jurisprudence: it not only asks the Court to articulate State duties under a uniquely expansive human rights charter but also to set the tone for how climate change is addressed within a regional legal architecture that centers on collective rights and intergenerational justice.
This content has been updated on 12 October 2025 at 18 h 59 min.