On March 30, 2026, HRI submitted an amicus curiae brief to the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the African Court) on the human rights obligations of African states in the context of the climate crisis. The brief highlights the disproportionate impact of the climate crisis on children, youth, and future generations, and sets out states’ obligations to protect their human rights, including the rights to a healthy environment, life, health, and education, as well as special protections for vulnerable groups such as girls and indigenous children.

It also calls on states to empower children as the next generation of climate leaders through protecting their rights to access information, to participate in government decision-making on climate, and to contribute to civic action.  

Background on the Advisory Opinion  

The advisory proceeding before the African Court, requested by the Pan African Lawyers Union (“PALU”), is part of a growing global push to clarify states’ obligations in the face of the escalating climate crisis. Speaking on the forthcoming advisory opinion, 2024–2025 Robert F. Drinan Chair in Human Rights Alfred Lahai Brownell, Sr., who leads the African Climate Platform and collaborated with PALU on the request, said: “We have heard from [the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, and the International Court of Justice], […] but we want to make sure that there’s an Afrocentric perspective, [which is] a view that hasn’t really been addressed.” He also noted that the continent’s majority child population will bear the brunt of the climate crisis, and that the Court’s advisory opinion could provide guidance on how states should address climate change, both within the continent and among historical emitters. 

About HRI’s Amicus Brief  

Alongside an unprecedented number of admitted experts and organizations, HRI seeks to assist the African Court in addressing the questions raised in the request for an advisory opinion, with a particular focus on children and youth. 

The project was spearheaded by HRI’s Deputy Director, Adjunct Professor Michelle Liu, an experienced practitioner who has worked and published widely on women’s and children’s human rights in sub-Saharan Africa. Students in the Human Rights Advocacy in Action Practicum conducted intensive research and writing to form the basis of the findings. The brief was prepared by Emma Dunn (L’27), Supna Kapoor (L’27), and Ana Paula Sanchez (L’27), together with Kinga Ewa Nastal (LL.M.’25), Graduate Research Assistant, and Edwina May Tepper (L’25), Partner Fellow at HRI, under Professor Liu’s supervision. 

The brief highlights how climate change uniquely affects children and youth in Africa, arguing that states parties to the African Charter and other relevant treaties are obligated to protect their rights. By outlining how climate change affects children’s rights to a healthy environment, and how such an environment is a precondition for the enjoyment of other rights, including life, health, and education, the brief sets out how the Court should interpret states’ obligations to protect children’s human rights and proposes ways in which states can ensure their full realization. The amicus brief also engages with issues specifically faced by vulnerable groups, such as girls and indigenous children, in the enjoyment of their fundamental human rights.  

The desk research was complemented by a field investigation to Nairobi, Kenya in January 2026 to better understand how climate change is affecting individuals, families, and communities. By elevating the voices of African youth climate leaders, community members, and experts, the brief provides an illustrative case study on how climate-induced harms are affecting Kenyan children specifically and could impact children more broadly across the continent.  

Beyond recognizing children and youth as passive victims of climate change, the brief emphasizes their role as the next generation of changemakers. It argues that the African Court can empower children by recognizing their procedural rights, including access to information, participation in decision-making, and access to justice—thereby reinforcing their role in climate decision-making and enabling them to assert the right to a healthy environment before national courts, for present and future generations. 

Student Impact

Reflecting on the field investigation and working to advance children’s rights as part of HRI’s Practicum, Supna Kapoor, said: “Participating in this project really cemented for me that climate change is a human rights issue. The climate crisis permeates every aspect of peoples’ lives, especially for children. Going forward, I don’t think I’ll be able to do human rights work without thinking about how the climate crisis intersects with or further exacerbates a particular issue.” 

Student, Ana Paula Sanchez, added: “I am deeply grateful and excited that our efforts over the past year, from initial research to field interviews and drafting legal memoranda, have culminated in a brief with real potential to advance children’s human rights within the African Union.” 

“Here at Georgetown Law, we are equipping the next generation of human rights lawyers to engage directly with the defining challenges of our time and to use their legal training to drive meaningful change,” said Michelle Liu. “I am deeply grateful to the students in our Human Rights Advocacy in Action Practicum, our partners at Our Children’s Trust, and the youth and indigenous climate leaders whose experiences and leadership inspire and shape this important work.” 

 

Written by Kinga Ewa Nastal. Edited by Michelle X. Liu.