If you would like to have something included in the next announcements, please email gnhrewebsite@gmail.com and include ‘Announcements’ in the email title. We are especially interested in submissions outside of Europe and North America.
Call for Abstracts, Papers, and Submissions:
SDGS+10: A GLOBAL LEGAL STOCKTAKE OF ACHIEVEMENTS, OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES (abstracts)
The first annual Critical Perspectives on Sustainable Development and Global Law Conference of the Centre for International Law and Globalisation, Southampton Law School will facilitate an opportunity to critically engage with the challenges and opportunities of achieving the SDGs, especially in the context of climate change and interlinked global crises. We cordially invite you to submit your abstract (not exceeding 300 words) to kl1n18@soton.ac.uk (RA Hwon Lee) before March 31, 2025.
We welcome submissions for one of the following panels: Goals 13 and 7, non-proliferation of fossil fuels and energy resilience; Harnessing AI for SDGs; Trade, Investment and Sustainable Development: securing a positive relationship; Goal 15: Biodiversity loss: Innovative approaches to conservation and use; Housing and SDG 11: making ‘cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable;’ Shipping and Sustainability. See more here.
2nd International Conference: The Crossroad Of International Environmental Law: Paradoxes of energy transition and global inequalities (abstracts)
The conference aims to explore the complex intersection of energy transition, environmental law, and human rights. We seek papers that critically examine the tensions, challenges, and potential synergies arising from the global shift to renewable energy, with a focus on the environmental, social, and economic impacts of this transition, particularly in the Global South. Date: September 3-4, 2025. Location: Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Barcelona. Abstract deadline: April 10, 2025. See more here.
Journal of Energy and Natural Resources Law, Special Issue: Regional Energy Interconnectivity and Sustainable Development: Role for International Law (papers)
The Journal of Energy and Natural Resources Law invites contributions to a special issue on Regional Energy Interconnectivity and Sustainable Development: Role for International Law. We welcome submissions, particularly from Global South scholars, exploring the roles that international law can play in advancing sustainability in the design, financing and implementation of regional energy interconnectivity projects. Full papers of around 7,000-9,000 words (inclusive of footnotes, abstract, title and appendices) should be submitted by July 15, 2025. See more here.
Calls for Input:
Public consultation on Guidelines on the Right to Peaceful Environmental Protest and Civil Disobedience
In February 2024, the Special Rapporteur released a position paper on State repression of environmental protest and civil disobedience: a major threat to human rights and democracy, outlining the Special Rapporteur’s observations of the various forms of repression experienced by members of the public for their involvement in peaceful environmental protest and civil disobedience. The invitation to comment is open to all who wish to provide comments on the draft text. Please provide your comments and/or suggested edits directly in the text. The Special Rapporteur would be grateful to receive any comments by March 31, 2025. See more here.
Military Activities and Toxics – issued by Special Rapporteur on Toxics and Human Rights
Purpose: To inform the Special Rapporteur’s 2025 thematic report to the United Nations General Assembly. Pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 54/10, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on toxics and human rights, Marcos Orellana, will present a thematic report, including recommendations, to the UN General Assembly in October 2025. His thematic report will focus, in accordance with his mandate, on military activities and toxics. Deadline: April 1, 2025. See more here.
Human Rights Defenders Working on Climate Change and a Just Transition – issued by Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders
Purpose: To inform the report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders on human rights defenders working on climate change and a just transition, to be presented to the 80th session of the UN General Assembly in October 2025. Deadline: April 30, 2025. See more here.
Opportunities:
Harvard Law School, Wasserstein Fellowship (Cambridge MA, USA)
Wasserstein Fellows are practicing public interest lawyers who spend three days on-campus meeting with individual Harvard Law students to advise them about public interest career paths. They also speak to students in group settings and assist OPIA staff in developing additional advising insights and resources. This year applicants engaged in international trade and development, human rights, digital rights, and global climate are encouraged to apply. Deadline: April 1, 2025. See more here.
University of Copenhagen, Postdoctoral Researcher for ‘Home in Crisis’ (Copenhagen, Denmark)
The Faculty of Law, University of Copenhagen, is seeking applications for one postdoctoral candidate as part of the interdisciplinary project “Home in Crisis” funded under a joint call “Crisis – Perspectives from the Humanities” launched by Humanities in the European Research Area (HERA) and the Collaboration of Humanities and Social Sciences in Europe (CHANSE). The position will be supervised by Associate Professor Miriam Cullen, and co-supervised by Associate Prof. Dina Lupin (University of Southampton). The position is available from July 1, 2025 for two years, full-time. Deadline: April 27, 2025. See more here.
Dublin City University, PhD Candidate with the Institute for Climate and Society (Dublin, Ireland)
This project aims to understand how certain communities of interest – rural, farming, fishing, border, and coastal communities – think about environmental issues by analysing the media they consume and create. The project looks at social media content created by individuals, organisations, and other relevant entities in order to examine how environmental issues are constructed, both textually and visually. This is a full time PhD position within the newly established Co-Centre for Climate + Biodiversity + Water and funded by Science Foundation Ireland. Deadline: May 1, 2025. See more here.
Events:
The Impact of Climate Policies on Human Mobility and Energy Security in Bangladesh (online)
Please join us on Wednesday March 19, 2025 at 13:00 GMT for an online seminar by KMS Tareq, and Sharowat Shamin with Professor Martin Lau as Chair on the impact of climate policies on human mobility and energy security in Bangladesh. This event is hosted by Law, Environment and Development Centre, SOAS, University of London. Register here.
Launch of the Commentary to the Maastricht Principles on the Human Rights of Future Generations (online and in-person, Geneva)
The launch is co-organized by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), World Future Council, FIAN International, the Geneva Human Rights Platform and the Raoul Wallenberg Institute. Please join us online or in Geneva for a hybrid launch of the legal commentary to the Maastricht Principles on the Human Rights of Future Generations on March 20, 2025 18:30-20:00 CET. Register for Zoom here and in-person here.
The 2025 J.B. and Maurice C. Shapiro Environmental Law Symposium – Foreign Investment and the Environment: Local Communities, Human Rights, and Dispute Resolution (in-person, Washington DC, USA)
Policies that promote the expansion of transnational capital often come at a significant cost to social equality, environmental health, and the well-being of local populations in host countries. The 2025 Shapiro Environmental Law Symposium will address these challenges by examining the intersection of environmental protection, human rights, and foreign investment within the context of arbitration between foreign investors and host states. Date: March 20, 2025 at George Washington University Law School. Register here.
New Publications/Releases:
Article: An empty victory? Shell v. Milieudefensie et al 2024, the legal obligations of carbon majors, and the prospects for future climate litigation action, Bengt Johannsen, Louis J. Kotzé, and Chiara Macchi; RECIEL. Read here.
Article: Climate Effects in Environmental Impact Assessment, Benoit Mayer; Transnational Environmental Law. Read here.
Book: Decolonizing Environmentalism – Alternative Visions and Practices of Environmental Action, Prakash Kashwan and Aseem Hasnain; Bloomsbury. Access here.
Book: Standing for Nature – Legal Strategies for Environmental Justice, Dana Zartner, Fabian Cardenas, and Mohammad Golam Sarwar; Island Press. Access here.
Podcast: Perspectives on Sustainable Development – Environmental Justice: Dignity Rights, Disparities, and Outlook with James May and Dana Johnson. Listen here.