Date: 25 September 2025, 16:00 CET
Registration: here

In July, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) delivered a landmark advisory opinion on climate change, clarifying states’ legal obligations and spelling out consequences for failure to prevent climate harm — a decisive step toward accountability that elevates the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment and addresses the role of fossil fuels head-on. This is a turning point for climate justice — and a lesson in how law can become a movement tool.

This month’s keynote speaker, Aditi Shetye, is the Legal Advocacy Lead of World’s Youth for Climate Justice (WYCJ), the youth-driven coalition behind the ICJ effort. What began with 27 Pacific Island law students became a global campaign of 1,500+ organisations, bridging grassroots pressure with rigorous legal advocacy and diplomatic lobbying to secure the UN General Assembly request and, ultimately, the ICJ’s opinion. It’s a story of collaboration, intergenerational equity, and Global Majority leadership — with takeaways that reach far beyond climate.

In this keynote, Aditi will take us inside the campaign: How youth organisers partnered with legal scholars and states while keeping decision-making youth-led; how they translated complex law into clear, rights-based messaging; and how movements can use international legal avenues to unlock change across causes.

You’ll leave with a deeper understanding of:

- What the ICJ opinion means – and the possible wider implications

- Combining grassroots pressure with legal strategy

- How to balance youth leadership and authentic local voices with expert credibility

- How to identify legal levers, build legitimacy, and turn advisory processes into momentum for policy and enforcement.

Whether you’re working on climate, human rights, or any justice-driven mandate, this session offers a blueprint for turning law into leverage — and for building a coalition powerful enough to make the world’s highest court listen.