CULTURAL CENTER, ROOM S8 – Via Cal de Fromiga, 31

Francesca De Vittor

Human rights and climate change: what tools for the protection of future generations?

In 1972, the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment concluded with the declaration: “Every human being has a fundamental right to freedom, equality, and satisfactory living conditions, in an environment that allows them to live in dignity and well-being, and is profoundly responsible for the protection and improvement of the environment for present and future generations.” Since then, the close relationship between environmental protection and human rights has been universally recognized, also with reference to forms of intergenerational responsibility. Among the forms of environmental degradation caused by human activities, climate change represents the area with the greatest, and tendentially exponential, impact on future generations. It is now recognized that the failure or insufficient adoption by the State of measures to mitigate anthropogenic impact on the climate or, in general, the safeguard of the environmental heritage can be interpreted in terms of the State’s responsibility for violating its obligations to protect and guarantee human rights. The intervention will illustrate the limits and potential of using human rights protection tools to influence state policies on climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Francesca De Vittor, confirmed researcher in international law at the Faculty of Law of the Catholic University of Milan, has obtained national scientific qualification as an associate professor for the scientific disciplinary sector “International Law”. After graduating in Law, she attended the D.E.A. in international law at the Université Robert Schuman in Strasbourg. In 2004, she obtained a dual doctorate degree and docteur en droit. Over the years, she has taught courses in International Law, European Union Law, International Organizations, and Immigration Law. She is currently a professor of Human Rights and the International Law Clinical Course. She has published numerous essays in Italian and foreign legal journals on topics of public international law, human rights, immigration and asylum law. An expert in international maritime law, she is engaged in the protection of human life at sea, providing legal advice to institutions and non-governmental organizations on issues related to the obligation to rescue.

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