The 2014 Conference on Human Rights, Environmental Sustainability, Post-2015 Development, and the Future Climate Regime

The 2014 Conference on Human Rights, Environmental Sustainability, Post-2015 Development, and the Future Climate Regime will take place from 5-7 September 2014 at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut. 

The Conference is organized by Yale and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United National Development Programme (UNDP), the World Resources Institute (WRI), and the UN Independent Expert on Human Rights and the Environment, as well as other interested partners. It will bring together more than 150 scholars and policy experts to discuss state-of-the-art knowledge concerning the following themes at the nexus of human rights and the environment: 

1.      Constitutional Environmental Rights: A Driver for Environmental Policy Making?
2.      Human Rights and Environmental Justice: Cases from Countries and the Field
3.      Procedural Environmental Rights: Why and How Do They Matter?
4.      Human Rights, Environment, and Corporate Responsibility
5.      Effective Participation of Civil Society and Vulnerable Groups
6.      Environmental Rights,  Post-2015 Development, and the Future Climate Regime
 
The Conference will feature a combination of policy discussions in plenary and parallel sessions to discuss contributions and topics in more depth. The organizers invite policy experts, scholars, and practitioners to submit abstracts for three types of papers: 

·        Synopsis Papers highlight key outcomes and conclusions from relevant past events such as workshops, consultations, expert meetings, etc.  
·        Review and Discussion Papers succinctly review state of the art knowledge concerning a particular theme or question addressed by the Conference.
·        Case Study Papers describe, analyze, and draw conclusions from a particular situation/case (e.g. national, local). 

The outcomes and conclusions of the Conference are expected to inform: (1) the discussion on sustainable development goals and a post-2015 development agenda by the 69th UN General Assembly in 2014/2015; (2) the negotiation of a future climate change regime by the end of 2015 under the UNFCCC; (3) the 2014 World Conference on Indigenous Peoples; and (4) the 2015 report of the UN Independent Expert on Human Rights and the Environment whose mandate was initiated by the Human Rights Council in 2012.
 
Details concerning the Conference are included in the Information Note. Individuals interested in participating in, and receiving more information about the Conference are requested to complete an Expression of Interest form.  The deadline for submitting abstracts is 1 April 2014. All Abstracts should be sent to envdem.yale@gmail.com with cc to envdem@unitar.org, using the standard template.