Moneim Adam has over fifteen years of expertise in international law, human rights, and litigation. He served as a human rights lawyer for both local and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs). He focused his efforts on supporting minority and marginalized communities in their pursuit of justice. He is in charge for supervising the Sudan Human Rights Hub (SHRH) and carrying out archival initiatives to advance accountability and informed advocacy by collecting and preserving data. His expertise includes a wide range of areas, such as violations of international humanitarian law (IHL), environmental concerns, accountability, and case management.

“In the fight for climate justice, we not only need to harness the transformative power of the law but also new imaginaries. “

Nabil Ahmed is professor of visual intervention at the Trondheim Academy of Fine Art in the faculty of architecture and design, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), and the the founder and co-director of INTERPRT, a research agency that pursues environmental justice through spatial and visual investigations. For over fifteen years his spatial practice and writing has interrogated the representational challenges of environmental destruction and conflict across visual culture and law. INTERPRT’s team which includes architects, filmmakers, researchers and developers have conducted research and investigations on the environmental destruction and human rights violations resulting from extractive projects, nuclear tests, and conflict in occupied West Papua, Indonesia, Brazil, Nigeria, Poland, Norway and Maohi Nui (French Polynesia) in legal and advocacy contexts.

H.E. Cheryl Bazard KC is currently The Bahamas' ambassador to the Kingdom of Belgium and the European Union. A barrister by profession for more than 30 years, Ambassador Bazard was called to the Inner Bar in 2023 and holds the distinction of King's Counsel. She is also an expert in anti-money laundering, countering the finance of terrorism, international tax and corporate governance having practiced in the area for more than 25 years.

“ Climate change is an existential threat to the Caribbean at multiple levels. The IACHR proceedings can further strengthen the link between combatting climate change and protecting human rights in the Americas. The advisory hearings have allowed the region to highlight the unique challenges posed to SIDS by climate change. It is hoped that the IACHR will seize the opportunity to fundamentally develop the complex jurisprudence in the area.”

Professor David S Berry, BA (UT), LLB (UBC), LLM (Queen’s), PhD (Edin), FCIArb, teaches and practices in the areas of public international law, regional integration law and international commercial arbitration. In his legal practice he has primarily served Governments and regional and international organisations, including in the roles of Deputy Agent, counsel or legal adviser in cases before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), an arbitral tribunal constituted under Annex VII of UNCLOS, and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. He has served as arbitrator in two ICSID arbitrations, and as the CARICOM ABMT Lead in the negotiations for the International legally binding instrument under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction. He is a Consultant at Berrys Attorneys and Arbitrators (Barbados).

Fernando Lusa Bordin's research focuses on topics of public international law, including international legal theory, law-making, the law of international organizations, international dispute settlement, the law on the use of force and international investment law. His monograph, The Analogy between States and International Organizations, was published by Cambridge University Press and received the 2020 Certificate of Merit in a Specialized Area of International Law from the American Society of International Law.

Christina Eckes is professor of European law at the University of Amsterdam and director of the Amsterdam Centre for European Law and Governance (ACELG). Her current research interests are strategic climate litigation, including issues of democratic legitimation; the role of European law, how to assess ‘fair shares’; and the separation of powers in the Europe. Recently, she started carrying out the research for a 5-year ERC Consolidator project on the direct and indirect consequences of climate litigation. Previously, she led the NORFACE project Separation of powers for 21st century Europe (2020-2024). Her publications include EU

Powers under External Pressure - How the EU's External Actions Alter its Internal Structures (OUP, 2019) and

EU Counter-Terrorist Policies and Fundamental Rights - The Case of Individual Sanctions (OUP, 2009).

Monica Feria-Tinta is a barrister at the Bar of England & Wales, a specialist in public international law, practising from Twenty Essex in London. She acts in English and International Courts and Tribunals and is described in legal directories as a ‘highly respected international lawyer’ possessing ‘amazing brainpower’. Monica was awarded the prestigious Diploma of the Hague Academy of International Law early in her career for demonstrating exceptional command of the entire canon of international law areas, and has been instrumental in bringing climate change as a topic in international courts’ jurisdictions.

Naima Te Maile Fifita’s work focuses on the development of international law and policies that serve the needs and amplify the voices of Pasifika communities facing climate impacts and climate-induced displacement. She is a graduate of the William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawaiʻi – Mānoa, where she studied environmental law with a focus on Pasifika climate displacement and served as President of the Pacific Islander Legal Association. She also received certificates in Environmental Law and Native Hawaiian Rights. In 2023, Naima founded The Moana Tasi Project, a non-profit organization committed to co-creating dignified pathways with, and for, climate-affected Pasikifa communities by holding spaces to engage, collaborate, and connect through resilience, advocacy, environmental stewardship and cultural connection. She is a founding member of the Commission of Small Island States on International Law and Climate Change Secretariat (COSIS), Council Member for the World Future Council, and Executive Director of the Institute for Climate and Peace.

Professor Patrícia Galvão Teles is currently Member of the United Nations International Law Commission (ILC), Professor of International Law at the Autonomous University of Lisbon and Senior Legal Consultant on International Law at the Legal Department of the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She is also a Member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA). Professor Galvão Teles holds a PhD in International Law from the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva (2002) and a Masters from the same Institute (1995), having graduated in Law at the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon (1993). Since 2002, she has been a Professor of International Law at the Law and International Relations Departments of the Autonomous University of Lisbon, responsible for several undergraduate and graduate courses on International Law, Human Rights and Humanitarian Law and EU Law. At the Autonomous University of Lisbon, she is also a researcher at the Research Center on External Relations OBSERVARE and member of its Scientific Council. She is a member of the Editorial Board and referee of Janus.Net, ejournal of International Relations.

Dr. Nataliia Hendel is a research fellow at the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights and a researcher at the Institute of Information, Security and Law of the National Academy of Legal Sciences of Ukraine. She is a member of the advisory board of the GROMADA project, which aims to recover Ukraine's environment. Dr Nataliia Hendel is a member of the Ukrainian Association of International Law, a member of the European Society of International Law and a member of the Environmental Peacebuilding Association. She is the Head of the Centre for International Humanitarian Law at the Ukrainian Association of International Law. Dr Hendel holds an LLM and a PhD in international law.

Kevin Jon Heller is Professor of International Law and Security at the University of Copenhagen’s Centre for Military Studies and Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law at Universidad Torcuato Di Tella in Buenos Aires. He is an Academic Member of Doughty Street Chambers in London and a Member of the Advisory Board the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales. He also currently serves as Special Advisor to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court on War Crimes.

Michael Kakande, a passionate certified climate reality leader, The Founder and Chairperson of The Resilient40 (R40), a regional environmental climate action network spread over 30 African countries channeling youth voices and priorities into key climate, human rights and nature conservation spaces on the continent as well globally, mobilizing youth to lead on human rights, nature and climate action. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Community Psychology and a master’s degree in Public Policy and management. He is the regional Youth cluster lead under the non state actors steering committee, a platform fronting a pro-african agenda within key decision making processes across Africa. A strong advocate for human rights, gender equity, intergenerational inclusive active participation, environmental, economic and climate justice.

Máximo Langer is David G. Price and Dallas P. Price Professor of Law at the School of Law of the University of California, Los Angeles, United States, and Faculty Director of the Promise Institute Europe. He is also President of the American Society of Comparative Law and Faculty Director of the UCLA Promise Institute for Human Rights. Besides teaching at UCLA, Professor Langer has taught at, among other institutions, the University Torcuato DiTella School of Law in Argentina and Harvard Law School (where he was Louis D. Brandeis Visiting Professor of Law). Professor Langer is also the Director of the Transnational Program on Criminal Justice at UCLA School of Law and is a Member of the American Law Institute. He was also the Founding Faculty Director of the Criminal Justice Program at UCLA School of Law.

Dr Shobha Maharaj (Oxon) is a climate impacts scientist who has contributed to several international science-based reports, and most recently as Lead Author on IPCC’s (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) 6th Assessment Report. In 2022 she was highlighted by the United Nations as one of 12 female scientists on the forefront of climate action and was also one of the co-recipients of the Glubenkian Prize for Humanity for work done on the frontline tackling climate change and the biodiversity loss and for highlighting the relationship between science, climate, biodiversity and society.

She has used her expertise to support requests for three different advisory opinions on climate change. These include: (i) provision of evidence and testimony on behalf of the Commission of Small Island States (COSIS) as it sought an advisory opinion from the ITLOS on the obligations of States due to climate change; (ii) scientific content and a subsequent signatory of an Amicus Brief on behalf of the Caribbean’s Civil Society in response to the request for an advisory opinion on the Climate Emergency and Human Rights submitted to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights by the Republic of Colombia and the Republic of Chile; (iii) provision of a scientific evidence as part of the COSIS submission to the request for an advisory opinion from the ICJ by the UNGA on behalf of Vanuatu.

She is also increasingly involved in DEI topics within global science narratives, in particular, on the sidelining of scientists from the Global South and who are people of colour.

Jojo Mehta co-founded Stop Ecocide in 2017, alongside legal pioneer the late Polly Higgins, to support recognition of “ecocide” - mass damage and destruction of nature - as a crime at the International Criminal Court.

As key spokesperson and executive director, she has overseen the remarkable growth of the movement while coordinating between legal developments, diplomatic traction and public narrative.

Jojo is also Chair of the charitable Stop Ecocide Foundation and convenor of the Independent Expert Panel for the Legal Definition of Ecocide chaired by Philippe Sands KC and Dior Fall Sow.

Stop Ecocide generates fertile collaborations around the globe at every level of society, from diplomats and politicians to lawyers and academics, from corporate influencers to indigenous and faith leaders, NGOs and grassroots campaigns.

Dr. Daphina Misiedjan is an assistant-professor in human rights and environment justice at ISS (EUR). She looks at environmental issues through a critical lens. She is part of the interdisciplinary NWO project ‘Islanders at the Helm’ which looks at the adaptation to climate challenges in the Caribbean part of the Netherlands. In the context of European Netherlands dr. Misiedjan looks at the growing problem of air pollution and health disparities in big cities such as Amsterdam, The Hague and Rotterdam. She is the convenor for the major ‘Human Rights, Gender and Conflict Studies: Social Justice Perspectives’ and part of the teaching teams for the master specializations ‘Decolonization and Degrowth’ and ‘Human Rights’. Besides her research and teaching activities within ISS she engages in public debates and influences public policy. She has advised local and national governments, Dutch parliament and other authorities and NGOs. In March 2023, dr. Misiedjan was appointed as one of the 50 members of KNAW’s Young Academy, where she is the co-chair of the internationalization track and part of efforts to ‘green’ the future of Dutch Academia (Green Young Academy)

Watna Mori was born and raised in Mt Hagen, Papua New Guinea. Watna is a Melanesian lawyer, rooted in her culture and kastom. She is a champion of the continuation of Indigenous ways of knowing and being and the development of pluralistic legal systems that give equal or higher recognition to Indigenous knowledge systems and customary laws. She has expertise on the emergent question of loss and damage for Indigenous peoples resulting from climate change.

Watna studied law and politics at Murdoch University in Australia. Following this, Watna completed an internship with the UN ICTY in The Hague and later a LLM in Public International Law at the University of Amsterdam where she wrote her thesis on riverine tailings disposal in New Guinea and the right to water. She then returned to work with the Papua New Guinea Constitutional and Law Reform Commission to regulate mine tailings disposal amongst other law reform work.

Watna has also worked in the international humanitarian and refugee law space and now works at the intersection of human rights, indigenous rights and environmental law, currently with Blue Ocean Law, an indigenous-led law firm, based in the Pacific Islands.

“Before we can allocate responsibility for climate change, we need to crack the puzzle of cumulative causation: how can a court determine that a single state has caused significant harm to the climate system?

Andre Nollkaemper is University Professor of International Law and Sustainability at the University of Amsterdam. Prior to his appointment, he was Dean of the Amsterdam Law School and professor of public international law. He is also Member of the Institut de Droit International and the Netherlands Royal Academy of Arts and Sciences, and former President of the European Society of International Law. His academic work has addressed problems of responsibility for harm resulting from climate change and other forms of global harm, how litigation in national courts can help realize reduction of emissions of greenhouse gasses, and how international law to be improved to protect farm animals.

Dr. Emmanuel Opoku Awuku is currently working for the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States, Secretariat, as a Acting Chief Legal Counsel. Dr. Awuku has worked at the Commonwealth Secretariat since 1997, first as Senior Programme officer at the Human Rights Unit and then later Legal Adviser at the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Division. Before that he worked with the United Nations and as an independent legal consultant and researcher dealing with issues ranging from foreign investment law and human rights law to trade and environmental law. Dr. Opoku Awuku has published widely in many renowned legal journals on issues relating to international trade law and sustainable development law.

Nilufer Oral is Director of the Centre of International Law at the National University of Singapore. She is a member of the UN International Law Commission (ILC) and served as Chairperson of the 74th session of the ILC. She is a Co-chair of the ILC Study Group on sea-level rise in relation to international law. She was elected as a Member of the Curatorium of The Hague Academy of International Law and is an associate member of the Institut de Droit International. She was a legal advisor and climate change negotiator for Turkish MFA (2009-2016). She is currently a Member of the Committee of Legal Experts of the Commission of Small Island States on Climate Change and International Law (COSIS). She has extensive academic publications.

"Defending the Future: Intergenerational equity, climate change & human rights before the International Court of Justice."

Nicole is an environmental and human rights lawyer-advocate from the Philippines, with a strong interest in the interface between law, science, and policy. She currently serves as the Asian front convener for World’s Youth for Climate Justice (WYCJ) and is part of the global steering committee.

She recently completed her work for the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS), the French National Centre for Scientific Research, under the Normandy Chair for Peace in France as a research fellow and project manager.

“Putting Oceania and its philosophical traditions at the heart of the development of international law and human rights.”

Alofipo So’oalo Fleur Ramsay is an international indigenous and human rights lawyer and has extensive experience as an environmental and climate justice lawyer in Australia and across Oceania. Prior to joining Blue Ocean Law, Fleur was pivotal in decolonising environmental law organisations, having spearheaded the creation of two indigenous-led programs (Pasifika and First Nations) at a peak Australian mainstream environmental law firm. She was awarded the Winston Churchill Fellowship to undertake travel and research innovative lawyering and best practice Indigenous environmental law practice.

Fadjar Schouten-Korwa is a lawyer registered at the Dutch Bar, with expertise in international law. As an international law lawyer she focuses on the rights of indigenous peoples. Indigenous peoples face the destruction of their habitat, livelihoods and culture as a result of climate change, intensive agriculture, exploitation of oil, gas and minerals as well (migration) politics. Indigenous peoples are on the frontline of the fight against the perpetrators of these crimes - which have a global impact – and need therefore everyone's support.

Her ancillary activities include chairing the Executive Board of Foundation Cooperating Organizations for West Papua , which is committed to safeguarding and promoting fundamental rights and freedoms of the people of West Papua, in particular the right of Papuans to self-determination under international law. Fadjar is also Secretary of the Executive Board of the Stop Ecocide Foundation which activates and develops global cross-sector support for an international crime of ecocide. Lastly, as member of the Environmental Commission of the Congress of Nations and States she is part of the mission to seek deliver unique contributions and solutions to foster relationships which are rooted in equality.

"There is no going back: the Promise of International Law for protecting Planet Earth, and seeking restitution and reparation for causing it harm by instigating ecological crises, must be fulfilled as an obligation and a duty".

Professor Shaista Shameem, currently Vice Chancellor of the University of Fiji and also Dean of the JDP School of Law at the University. Has a varied career, as a journalist, high school teacher, Sociology lecturer in NZ universities prior to studying law and then practising as a human rights lawyer in Fiji as Director of the Fiji Human Rights Commission from 1999-2009; Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur on the Use of Mercenaries 2004-2010. Member of the Investigative Panel into Human Rights Violations in Timor Léste established by the UN Secretary General Kofi Anan in 2006, Professor of Law, University of Fiji, Director New Migrants, Massey University in New Zealand; Vice Chancellor of the University of Fiji since 2019; Legal Expert, along with other eminent lawyers for the Commission of Small Island States on Climate Change and International Law (COSIS); Editor of Environment and Law journals.

“ For a villager in the Solomon Islands, to toil for their child's school fees is more burdensome than campaigning for a ICJAO on climate change. However, the favorable outcome of the latter can help lighten the load of the potato bag.“

Solomon Yeo is a human rights lawyer born and raised on the island of Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. He is dedicating his life to addressing the numerous issues that persist within the Pacific, notably climate injustice, decolonization, and the politics of development. He works with Pacific communities, civil society organizations, and governments, mainly in the areas of climate change, decolonization, conservation, and community development. He has graduated from the University of the South Pacific and University of Hawai‘i at Manoa with a BA/LLB and LLM.

Ingo is Professor of International Law and Social Justice at the University of Amsterdam and Director of the Amsterdam Center for International Law (ACIL). In the past, he served, inter alia, as Hauser Research Scholar at New York University and Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law in Heidelberg. His work focuses on different dimensions of sustainability as well as the theory and practice of interpretation in international law. His recent attention goes to critical moments in the history of international law and the role of international law in creating the conditions for social (in)justice. His monographs include How Interpretation Makes International Law: On Semantic Change and Normative Twists (2012) and In Whose Name? A Public Law Theory of International Adjudication (together with Armin von Bogdandy, 2014). Recently he edited Contingency in International Law: On the Possibilities of Different Legal Histories (together with Kevin Jon Heller, 2021).

Master of Ceremonies

Anne-Sophie Vivier is a lawyer living in Vanuatu since 2007. She currently serves as the Global Engagement and Legal Adviser for the Pacific in the Vanuatu Climate Justice and Diplomacy Program. In this role, she supports and coordinates Pacific Island States and Organizations for their submissions to the International Court of Justice regarding the Advisory Opinion on Climate Change. Throughout her time in Vanuatu, she has held various positions in the international development and Higher Education sectors, notably contributing to the establishment of the National University of Vanuatu.