HRP Associate Director Abadir Ibrahim Co-Authors New Article on International Climate Law
HRP Associate Director, Dr. Abadir M. Ibrahim, and Florida International University College of Law Assistant Professor, Dr. Angela Hefti, have published a new article on “Contributions of the African Human Rights System to International Climate Law”.
Published in Vol. 51 of the Yale Journal of International Law, the co-authored piece explores how African regional legal frameworks can offer innovative approaches to the global climate crisis. Observing that climate litigation is proliferating, and that jurisprudence on climate law is rapidly developing around the world, the authors argue that the African human and peoples’ rights system possesses unique potentialities to emerge as a normative leader in shaping global climate jurisprudence.
This potential for normative leadership is deeply rooted in the African system’s distinct normative structures and mechanisms. These include the recognition of collective rights, the availability of actiones populares, and the justiciability of the right to a healthy environment, all of which provide a strong foundation for addressing climate-related harms. Building on existing regional treaties and jurisprudence, the authors show how these elements can be extended to support the recognition and protection of a right to a healthy climate, the rights of nature, and a robust framework of state obligations to mitigate emissions and address transboundary environmental impacts. Ultimately, by embracing legal pluralism, and thus an openness to normative input from Indigenous and traditional normative systems, the authors argue that the region can draw on its biocentric traditions to offer profound African solutions to global climate challenges.