Projetos (Fortalecendo o papel)

Strengthening the role of law for climate action at COP 30

The project aims to strengthen the role of law as a powerful tool for transforming commitments into concrete actions for implementing climate justice through strategic litigation. It intends to develop dialogue between jurists, lawyers, activists, researchers, civil society, and other actors so that, together, they can promote legal instruments capable of better directing climate and environmental responsibilities, thus protecting vulnerable communities and the environment.

COP30 arrives at a crucial moment for global climate action, with multilateralism at a critical crossroads. In the past, legal efforts were often isolated from discussions about key solutions to the climate crisis, but the upcoming climate conference offers a unique opportunity to change that. By promoting initiatives that connect legal strategies with political debates, we can recognize and employ law as an integral tool to increase climate ambition, promote accountability for rights violations, and ensure a just ecological transition.

In this context, LACLIMA will organize a series of events with the aim of bringing a legal perspective to important debates, from the territorial to the international level, under the aegis of climate negotiations, both in official spaces and in parallel events.

Highlights include two main events: Climate Justice Day on November 13th at the São Brás Market, and the Strategic Dialogue on International Tribunals and Advisory Opinions on the Climate Emergency on November 19th at Casa Balaio. In addition, during the two weeks of COP 30, a series of side events will be held in collaboration with partner organizations and initiatives, all guided by a shared commitment to strengthening legal action and the rule of law in the context of the climate emergency. More information on the main events can be found below.

LACLIMA's participation in COP 30 comes at a decisive moment for international climate policy, where multilateralism faces major challenges and the urgency for accountability and ambition is growing. Held in Belém, in the heart of the Amazon, the conference represents a strategic opportunity to consolidate law as a central part of the solutions to the climate crisis—overcoming the historical fragmentation that has isolated legal approaches from political and technical debates.

In this context, LACLIMA's project at COP 30 seeks to recognize Law as an essential tool for transformation: capable of strengthening climate justice, ensuring the implementation of commitments, promoting accountability, and guiding a just transition. The proposal is to connect different levels of action (from local to international) and bring litigation, public policies, civil society, and global courts closer together on a single agenda.

The strategy is materialized in a program that combines anchor events and side events, highlighting the Climate Justice Day and the Strategic Dialogue on International Tribunals and Advisory Opinions. These spaces will range from valuing the voices of communities and movements to engaging with key actors in the global legal system, ensuring that the discussions at COP 30 are anchored in justice and rights.

Thus, the LACLIMA project contributes to making climate justice a structuring axis of COP 30, creating bridges between territories and courts, civil society and multilateral bodies — and reinforcing the role of law as an indispensable pillar in the response to the climate emergency.

13/11 - Climate Justice Day

Location: São Brás Market

Event open to the public. More information coming soon.

LACLIMA will host "Climate Justice Day" during the first week of COP 30. The event is dedicated to the role of law in strengthening climate justice. With the participation of high-level representatives and experts in strategic litigation, topics such as transnational and domestic disputes, corporate accountability, just energy transition, and struggles for the realization of human rights will be addressed. This initiative will be aligned with the official COP 30 thematic day on justice and human rights and will integrate a joint Climate Justice campaign with partners on various days and locations, with the main event taking place at Mercado São Bráz, a historic location in Belém symbolic for human rights demonstrations.

19/11 - Strategic Dialogue on International Tribunals and Advisory Opinions

Location: Casa Balaio.
Open event with prior registration. More information coming soon.

Based on the impetus from the recent Advisory Opinions on the legal obligations of States in the climate emergency, issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR), LACLIMA will host a high-level strategic dialogue to discuss the role of international courts and Advisory Opinions in advancing climate justice. This event, part of a research project on reforming the international climate regime from a human rights perspective, will take place on November 19th at Casa do Balaio, in downtown Belém, as part of the parallel agenda of COP30. The meeting will be a concise and impactful space, focused on the implementation of the Opinions and the development of coordinated legal strategies, with an emphasis on climate litigation, bringing together representatives of petitioning States, judges from international courts, and leaders from academia, civil society, and national justice institutions.

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LACLIMA

Latin American Climate Lawyers Initiative for Mobilizing Action

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