The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) is participating in a conference on Human Rights and Environmental Law from Below: Grassroot and Human Rights Perspectives on the Human Environment Agenda (Stockholm+50).
The conference which has its theme as “Climate Justice, Grassroots Activism and Human Rights Law” is underway at the University of Nairobi, Kenya.
Being organized by the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law (RWI), China Dialogue Trust, and the Faculty of Law at the University of Nairobi, and featuring both public and closed-door sessions, aims at creating a space for mutual learning, reflection, and critical discussion around climate justice.
The sessions would address how environmental and human rights could ensure that costs of climate impact, mitigation, and adaptation are met in a just manner, and how environmental and social transitions can incorporate public participation and protect rights.
These sessions would also discuss how the South-South Cooperation, the role of China and other emerging development partners on the African continent are shaping environmental standards, human rights, and development.
It is anticipated that the discussions would provide an avenue to map out impacts and challenges in getting access to reliable information on investments as well as the impacts of foreign direct investments on the people and the environment.
This conference is expected to address previous events and similar issues contextualized to the African continent, with focus on Kenya and civil society-driven initiatives. Participants would share ideas on best practices, and deliberate on related progress in policy development and case law from national, regional, and local levels throughout the region.
The cross-regional exchange would lead to mutual learning and further enhance global solidarity and collaboration as speakers from Chinese academia and civil society are expected to share experiences from China.
The outcome of the conference, in respect of lessons learnt and conclusions drawn from panel discussions, would be shared on partner websites and their social media channels, as an input to and reference for processes leading to the 27th Conference of the Parties (COP 27).
The COP 27 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which is aimed at building on previous successes and paving the way for future ambitions to effectively tackle the global challenge of climate change, would be the next conference slated for November 2022 in Egypt.
CHRAJ is being represented by Mr. Clement Kadogbe of its Human Rights Department.
