Report on the International Conference: “Climate Change Advisory Opinions from International Courts: Exploring Synergies & Implications” (Barbados, 19th and 20th March of 2026)

On the 19^th and 20^th March of 2026 the Faculty of Law at Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI) in Barbados opened its doors for the International Conference titled “Climate Change Advisory Opinions from International Courts: Exploring Synergies & Implications”. The conference was organized by Professor Dr. Christina Voigt, University of Oslo, Visiting Professor at UWI, and Chair of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature World Commission on Environmental Law (IUCN WCEL) and Alana Malinde S.N. Lancaster, Lecturer in Law & Head of the Caribbean Environmental Law Unit, UWI, Faculty of Law and supported by supported by the IUCN WCEL.

The conference took place against the backdrop of the three issued advisory opinions given by the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), the Inter-American Court on Human Rights (IACtHR) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the currently pending request for an advisory opinion at the African Court on Human and People Rights (AfCHR) all investigating State’s obligations regarding climate change. It brought together practitioners and scholars from different backgrounds to engage in a discussion about the synergies between the instructive advisory opinions and their regional implications – with a focus on the Caribbean.

The first day started with a High Level Opening chaired by Ayman Cherkaoui, Deputy Chair of the IUCN WCEL and Director of the Hassan II International Center for Environmental Training, Morocco. After concise welcome remarks by the organizers Professor Dr. Christina Voigt and Alana Malinde S.N. Lancaster, the Campus Principal and Pro Vice Chancellor of the UWI Cave Hill Campus, Professor R. Clive Landis welcomed the participants to the University. He was followed by a speech of the Interim Dean of the Faculty of Law, Dr. Antonius Hippolyte and Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Elizabeth Maruma Mrema who provided a video address. The speakers inter alia highlighted the significant role of the Caribbean region, and particularly scholars at UWI, in the proceedings of the advisory opinions and the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

The first session of the day, chaired by Professor Dr. Christina Voigt, explored the issued as well as the upcoming advisory opinions on climate change under the title: “Three (Plus One) Climate Change Advisory Opinions: Emerging Synergies & Parallels”. Both Zachary A.R Phillips, Crown Counsel, Attorney General’s Chambers for Antigua & Barbuda and Alexander Ramdass from the CariJustice Alliance reflected on the outcomes of the ITLOS advisory opinion on climate change. Alana Malinde S.N. Lancaster and Dr. Claudia de Windt, Executive Director of the Inter-American Institute of Justice and Sustainability, discussed the advisory opinion of the IACtHR. In the following Professor Dr. Francesco Sindico analyzed the advisory opinion issued by the ICJ. Britney Nurse, Renew TT, shed light on the challenges and possibilities of currently pending request for an advisory opinion at the AfCHPR holds. All contributions reflected the expertise of the speakers from participating in the proceedings of one or more of the advisory opinions.

In the second session five panelists discussed the “Obligations to Address Climate Change: Implications of Advisory Opinions” moderated by the Chair of the session Dr. Claudia de Windt. Dr. Justin Sobion, University of Auckland, opened the session with reflections on the ICJ advisory opinion. Professor Dr. Emmanuel Kasimbazi, Makerere University and WCEL Steering Committee Member followed with an analysis of the implications of the advisory opinions. An analysis focused on the particular implications on Loss and Damage policy was presented by Maren Solmecke, Leuphana University and Visiting Researcher at UWI Cave Hill. The presentation of Ayman Cherkaoui highlighted the coherence of the advisory opinions issued to date in their interpretation of existing legal norms. The Director of the Environmental Law Division at UNEP Dr. Patricia Kameri-Mbote elaborated the significance of the advisory opinions from the perspective of UNEP as an international organization and authority on the environment.

The third and final session of the day, titled “Stakeholder Reflections on Advisory Opinions on Climate Change & Their Protection of Vulnerable Groups and Individuals in the Caribbean Region”, was chaired by Alana Malinde S.N. Lancaster. Kate Wilson, Former Legal Officer, Department of Sustainable Development, Government of Saint Lucia focused in her presentation on Caribbean factors of (climate) vulnerability. A perspective assessing children’s rights was presented by Dr. Adetutu Aina-Pelemo, Deputy Dean (Postgraduate Studies & Research) at the Faculty of Law, UWI, Cave Hill Campus. Leisa Perch, CEO & Founder of SAEDI Consulting Barbados Inc, shed light on the intersection of climate vulnerability and gender. The session posed a thorough call for focalizing structural injustices in discussing climate change – be it on international or local level.

The second day of the conference started with a screening of the short documentary "Fighting Not Drowning: Behind the Scenes at the ICJ Climate Hearings" which follows the work of the indigenous led team of Blue Ocean Law through the proceedings of the ICJ advisory opinion.

The presentations began with a keynote session chaired by Rico J. Yearwood, UWI, Cave Hill Campus. The first presentation was delivered by Minister Justice Antonio Herman Benjamin, Chief Justice of the National High Court of Brazil, who discussed the changes and transformation in law at the example of climate law and the advisory opinions. Inter alia, he reflected on the role of judges in such transformations, for example in embracing science in climate law, as well as the link of climate change to continuities of colonialism. In the following speech, Justice Winston Anderson, President of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) elaborated on multiple pathways to remedying climate impacts in the Caribbean region caused outside the jurisdictions of the region, such as international law, advisory opinions and pathways of domestic law. Subsequently, he presented a proposal for an international cooperate funded compensation resource, the International Climate Injuries Compensation (ICIC) fund.

The second keynote of the day was given by Dr. Nilufer Oral, Director of the Centre of International Law at the National University of Singapore, Member of the UN International Law Commission (ILC), on the topic “The Advisory Opinions Clarifications on the Law of the Sea and Sea Level Rise”. Dr. Oral provided an substantive analysis of the ITLOS advisory opinion as well as the ICJ advisory opinion on the topic, describing how the ICJ advisory opinion went beyond ITLOS advisory opinion regarding the matters of sea level rise and maritime boundaries. In the following discussion, Dr. Agnès Michelot, University of La Rochelle and UNESCO Chair Ocean and Sustainable Coastline, reflected on the legal transformation the advisory opinions make possible in this field of law. Both pointed out the significance of ITLOS confirming that greenhouse gas emissions constitute marine pollution and how the ITLOS advisory opinion paves the way for integration of climate change challenges in the law of the sea.

The fourth session discussed the role of courts and climate change both from the perspective of the judiciary as well as the bar. The part of the session on the judiciary perspective was hosted by Professor Dr. David Forman, Co-Director of the Environmental Law Program, University of Hawai‘i with Madam Justice Michelle Weekes Judge at the Supreme Court of Barbados being the first presenter representing the Judiciary. Justice Michael Wilson, Hawaii Supreme Court, supported this judiciary perspective with a presentation on judges as architects of a right to a life sustaining climate – a right to survival, rooting his presentation in the effects of climate change on his home country Hawaii. Professor Francesco Sindico chaired the second part of the session with Britney Nurse and Alexander Ramdass and Professor Dr. David Forman elaborating on the perspective of the bar in a lively discussion on the (potential) impact of the advisory opinions in front of Hawaiian and Caribbean courts. The speakers, inter alia, pointed out how important it is to raise awareness of lawyers that are not particularly practicing in the field of climate law or environmental law of the advisory opinions. Furthermore, they highlighted the overall significance of interdisciplinary collaboration. 

The fifth and final session of the conference was chaired by Dr. Claudia de Windt. Under the title “Conversations by the Seashore: Unpacking the Legal Consequences of the Opinions for Cooperation and Finance Obligations in a Caribbean Context” Dr. Amanda Kennedy, Chair of the IUCN Academy of Environmental Law, Professor Dr. Nicholas Robinson, Pace University, and Christine Adam, Director, UNFCCC Legal Affairs Division, discussed the implications the advisory opinions have for climate finance and especially the legal obligations in the area of climate finance that were affirmed – one of those being the duty to cooperate. The following discussion inter alia elaborated on the importance of procedural rights for Small Island States as legal entitlement to partake in legal knowledge as well as the empowering effect the advisory opinions have on Caribbean voices in climate finance negotiations.

In her closing remarks Professor Dr. Christina Voigt summarized the past two days and the impact the advisory opinions have had and will have in future. She also pointed out the aspects the advisory opinions left to in concreto assessments, especially questions of remedies as well as of attribution and causation.

Overall, the conference provided a great platform for practitioners and academicians to exchange about the traction the advisory opinions have gained in their respective fields. The discussions were enriched by the active participation and critical questions of participating students of UWI. The presentations showed how valuable the advisory opinions are in tracing the legal obligations of States and what potential they hold for influencing domestic legal developments. While the participants overall classified the advisory opinions as a bis step in holding States accountable for climate action, the analyses over the two days revealed open questions, inter alia regarding the detailed implementation of obligations, structural injustices and historic contributions to climate change. The advisory opinion still pending at the AfCHR has the potential to address some of these uncertainties. However, the newly won clarity regarding the legal framework of climate change provides legitimacy but it cannot replace political decisions that will now have to follow.


Conference Program available here.
 

VIDEO: Day 1 (19th March 2026)

VIDEO: Day 2 (20th March 2026)

1. ^
   Request for an Advisory Opinion Submitted by the Commission of Small Island States on Climate Change and International Law [2024] 31 ITLOS
   <https://www.itlos.org/fileadmin/itlos/documents/cases/31/Advisory_Opinion/C31_Adv_Op_21.05.2024_orig.pdf> accessed 03 April 2026.
2. ^
   Climate Emergency and Human Rights [2025] 32 IACtHR <https://jurisprudencia.corteidh.or.cr/en/vid/1084981967> accessed 03 April 2026. 
3. ^
   Obligations of States in Respect of Climate Change [2025] 187 ICJ <https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/187/187-20250723-adv-01-00-en.pdf> accessed 03 April 2026. 
4. ^
   Request by the Pan African Lawyers Union (PALU) for an Advisory Opinion on the Obligations of States with Respect to Climate Change [2025] 01/25 AfCHR <https://www.african-court.org/cpmt/storage/app/uploads/public/68a/6ca/fb0/68a6cafb0e6f6880543145.pdf> accessed 03 April 2026. 
5. ^
   ‘Fighting Not Drowning: Behind the Scenes at the ICJ Climate Hearings | Full Documentary’ <https://youtu.be/xVG2BN5MhCw?si=5NSwxVnRckbyKPeo> accessed 06 April 2026. 

6. ^ 
   More information on the proposal is available at: ‘CCJ President Proposes International Climate Injuries Compensation Fund’ <https://ccj.org/ccj-president-proposes-international-climate-injuries-compensation-fund/> accessed 3 April 2026.