The Impact of Climate Change on the International Protection of Human Rights
CLIMA lunch seminar with Irene Antonioli.
This seminar examines the growing "humanization" of climate change through the lens of international human rights law. It first explores how climate change has increasingly been framed as a human rights issue and then analyses three landmark climate cases that exemplify this trend: KlimaSeniorinnen v. Switzerland, Duarte Agostinho and Others v. Portugal and 32 Others, and Carême v. France. Finally, it discusses some of the main challenges associated with climate litigation, including the role of courts in strategic climate litigation and the limits to the effectiveness of international environmental law.
About the speaker
Irene Antonioli graduated with honours in Law from the University of Naples Federico II in July 2025. Her master's thesis focused on the relationship between climate change and international human rights protection. Following her graduation, she completed an internship with an NGO in Spain, where she worked on European project development in the field of sustainability. Irene is currently an intern at the Climate Centre, where she contributes to research and projects related to climate governance and sustainability.