Global Climate Justice Symposium

By the Youth, For the Youth

Perspectives of university students from around the world on the climate advisory proceedings

March - July 2025

2024 was a historic year for climate justice, hosting the stage for three unprecedented advisory proceedings on climate change before 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). All three advisory proceedings aim to clarify the obligations of States under international law with respect to climate change. The outcome of these proceedings and their subsequent implementation will have wide-ranging and long-lasting implications for the future of our planet and the survival of humanity.

Among those most adversely impacted by climate change are children, youth, and future generations; their futures are at stake and, thus, their voices must be heard. In light of this, World’s Youth for Climate Justice (WYCJ) in collaboration with partners is hosting the Global Climate Justice Symposium - a series of blog posts written by university students from around the world, providing their insights and perspectives on the climate advisory proceedings and their implications for their respective regions and national contexts.

Our Symposium Partners include the following:

  • William S. Richardson School of Law, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa

  • The Centre for Environmental Law and Policy at the University of Colombo

  • The ‘CLIC - Climate Law in International Context’ program established by the Universities of Chile and Hamburg

  • The Geneva Graduate Institute

  • The IE International Policy Review

  • The Kathmandu University School of Law

  • The University of the West Indies

University students and young professionals from across the world have come together to contribute their thoughts, analysis, and opinions to this initiative. Their blog posts were drafted throughout the months of March - July 2025 and will be published throughout the weeks of July 2025 on WYCJ’s symposium website, acting as the central hub for the symposium, and may also be found on their respective university websites.

Scroll down to see what they have to say!

DISCLAIMER: The views expressed in the symposium’s blog posts are those of the author and do not represent the views of WYCJ. Furthermore, university chapters were prepared, edited, and approved by the respective universities; WYCJ cannot guarantee the level of scientific and legal inquiry, nor the content of blog posts.

World’s Youth for Climate Justice

  • The Climate Emergency is Here: Pay Attention to the Youth!

    By World’s Youth for Climate Justice

  • Spain and Global Climate Leadership: Capacities, Contradictions, and Domestic Challenges

    By Pablo Morente Acale

  • Climate Change and the Responsibility of States for Private Actors: Insights from Advisory Proceedings

    By Lizbeth Espinosa Macías

  • From Advisory Opinions to Action: Legal Indicators as Tools to Reinforce Non-Regression in Colombia's National Climate Governance

    By Ada Valentina Gaviria Erazo

  • Cautious Commitment – A Critical Analysis of Germany’s Submissions to the ICJ Climate Change Advisory Proceedings

    By Miriam Klüner

  • Climate Justice on Trial: East Africa’s Stake in the ICJ Advisory Opinion

    By Dhikusooka Ernest

  • Latin America’s Uneven Engagement in the Climate Advisory Proceedings before the ICJ and ITLOS

    By Valeria Flores Romo

The Centre for Environmental Law and Policy at the University of Colombo

  • Bridging the Climate Justice Gap: Sri Lanka’s Approach to State Responsibility in light of the ICJ Advisory Proceedings on Climate Change Obligations

    By Farhath Rhysa

  • Judicial Protection on Right to Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment:South Asian Perspective on ICJ Advisory Proceedings

    By Yohan Liyanage

Geneva Graduate Institute

  • Towards State Responsibility in the ICJ Climate Change Advisory Opinion? A Cross-Regime Analytical Perspective

    By Ruolin Zhang

  • Beyond Teitiota: Exploring Aotearoa New Zealand’s Engagement with the International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion

    By Rose Sandford

  • Shaping the Future of the Right to a Healthy Environment: An Analysis of the Participation of Non-state Actors in the International Courts’ Advisory Proceedings on Climate Change

    By Carla Veiga Bezerra

  • Policy Ripple Effect: How the ICJ Advisory Opinion Could Shape India’s Climate Governance

    By Ashwathy Sunil

  • Indigenous Rights and Climate Litigation: Using the ICJ Advisory Opinion to Strengthen Legal Claims

    By Arista Dalal

  • Progressive Application of Science in the ITLOS Climate Related Advisory Opinion

    By Navaranjini Nadarajah

William S. Richardson School of Law, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa

  • Why the International Court of Justice’s Advisory Opinion on Climate Change is Crucial for Island Nations

    By Jessielyn Ho

  • An Opportunity to Protect Small Island Developing States and Preserve the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

    By Steven Manso

CLIC - Climate Law in international Context

  • Obligations of Conduct and Intergenerational Equity as reflected in principles of International Law: Divergences Between European Union and Member State Submissions in the Wake of the ICJ Advisory Opinion on Climate Change

    By Nathalie Frisch and Marike Dieluweit

The University of the West Indies

  • Africa Demands Climate Justice: Why the Loss and Damage reparations can no longer be ignored

    By Alois Aldridge Mugadza

  • Beyond Legal Opinions: What Climate Justice Must Mean for the Caribbean

    By Dorain Clarke

  • State Responsibility, Substantive Reparations, and the Survival of Caribbean SIDS in the wake of the ICJ Advisory Opinion on Climate Change

    By Deborah Bryan

The IE International Policy Review

  • Intersectionality in Climate Litigation: The Role of Gender Perspective

    By Klaudia Maria Kupidura

  • Farmland for the Future: The International Court of Justice and their Advisory Opinion’s Role in the Larger Land-Grabbing Narrative

    By Caroline Margarita Blessing

  • Brazil Before Three Courts: A Comparative Analysis of Brazil’s Written Submissions to Climate Advisory Opinion Proceedings

    By Ivana Soto

  • Unrecognized and Unprotected: Climate Refugees and International Legal Gaps

    By Michela Salama-Robino

  • Imported Emissions, Exported Responsibility: Can the ICJ Advisory Opinion Close Europe’s Climate Accountability Gap?

    By Kalina Stefanova

  • Divided by Degrees: The North–South Climate Conundrum

    By Sanjay Reghulal

  • Precedents and Pressure: What Previous ICJ Opinions Can Teach Us about Accountability in the Climate Field

    By Marie-Louise Palumbo