Bonavero Institute of Human Rights Hosts Key Conference on Human Rights-based Climate Remedies

The Bonavero Institute of Human Rights hosted the conference "From Litigation to Implementation: Framing Climate Remedies in European Human Rights Law" on June 6, 2025. 

Organised by Professor Başak Çalı, head of Research at the Bonavero Institute and Marcelo Lozada Gomez, in collaboration with the Oxford Sustainable Law Programme, the conference facilitated in-depth discussions on which remedies can be granted in successful climate litigation cases before domestic and international human rights courts. Plus, the challenges facing the implementation of such remedies.

The conference was attended by an interdisciplinary group of scholars alongside legal practitioners and members of civil society organisations. It aimed to advance understanding on how successful climate remedies can be formulated, concretised in public, constitutional and human rights law, and ultimately implemented, thereby contributing to the broader legal and policy responses to climate change.

The Programme started by exploring the remedial jurisprudence established by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and the Committee of Ministers in Verein KlimaSeniorinnen v. Switzerland, examining its profound implications for the evolution of climate remedies in Europe. Further sessions drew comparative insights from climate litigation before apex courts in Austria, France and Brazil on the kinds of remedies courts have granted and whether and how they are involved in implementation. The discussions also addressed the future trajectory of climate remedies before constitutional and international courts as well as reflecting on the relationship between climate science, climate law, and human rights law.

The conference and its research programme is part of the ‘FRAMES: Framing Reality and Normativity in European Human Rights Law: Climate Change, Migration, and Authoritarianism’ research project funded by the Volkswagen Foundation.

The Bonavero Report ‘From Litigation to Implementation: Towards Smart Remedies in Rights-based Climate Litigation’ will be published in September 2025. The report will provide practical insights to judges, litigants, civil society, and policy makers about how to craft and implement impactful remedies in human rights-based climate litigation cases.