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Centre for Sustainable Development Law and Policy
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From Durham to Santa Marta and Beyond

19 March 2026 - 20 March 2026

9:00AM - 4:00PM

Redhills Durham Miners Hall, Durham, UK

  • Free to attend but you must register.

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The “From Durham to Santa Marta and Beyond” conference seeks to bring together academics, UN experts, and civil society thought-leaders to explore and connect diverse areas of evidence and thinking on equitable pathways to defossilize our economies and effectively protect human rights, with a view to supporting key international processes on climate change, human rights, and fossil fuels in 2026.

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COP30 Belém, Brazil

Organised by Professor Elisa Morgera (UN Special Rapporteur on Climate Change and Human Rights), the UN Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Brazilian Special Envoy on Climate Change and Human Rights, Denise Dora, the conference will mainly include interactive workshop-like sessions with hybrid segments for remote participants to contribute evidence, questions and reflections.

The conference has the following objectives:

  • To support the Santa Marta First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels to be held in Colombia on 24-29 April 2026;
  • To inform the UNFCCC process in 2026, including with a view to supporting the operationalization of the Belém Action Mechanism on Just Transition;
  • To inform the follow up process on the Brazilian Presidency Action Agenda and the collaboration between the COP30 and COP31 Presidencies;
  • To support the preparation of the: 2026 reports of the UN Special Rapporteur on Climate Change and Human Rights, advancing defossilizing in food systems and climate technologies; and OHCHR report on human rights and climate finance under preparation.

The methodology for the conference will entail:

  • workshopping sessions for all participants to co-develop knowledge, bringing together (but also constructively and generatively challenging) existing research based on their respective areas of expertise and understanding.
  • hybrid segments for remote participants to contribute evidence, questions and reflections.
  • no presentations or papers as such, but rather the sharing of key findings and “provocations” to support collective thinking.

Each of the workshop session will entail:

  • 30' panellists sharing key findings and provocations and initial reactions from plenary
  • 45' break-out groups
  • 45' sharing of findings from breakout groups and collective reflection in plenary

Remote participants will be able to participate in the opening panel and in the first 30-minute segment of each workshop.

🔗 Register: https://forms.office.com/e/HWgQi3Pqrk 

Durham Conference Programme

Day 1 - 19 March 2026

Sessions

9-10am

Welcome by organisers

 

Opening multidisciplinary panel on the science, law and geo-politics of defossilization

10-12pm

Workshop: Defossilization from the bottom-up

12-1.30pm

Lunch break

1.30-3pm

Workshop: The economics of the phase-out

3.30-4pm

Coffee break

4-6pm

Workshop: Analysis of national pathways for the phase out

6pm

Reception

10.30pm

Evening connection with University of New South Wales conference https://events.humanitix.com/academicwork

Day 2 - 20 March 2026

Sessions

9-11am

Workshop: Links and tensions between the fossil fuel phase-out and critical minerals; and the reform of international investment law/ISDS

11-11:30am

Coffee break

11.30-1pm

Workshop: Links between fossil fuels and big tech (data centres, AI)

1-2pm

Lunch break

2-4pm

Final reflection on better connecting organisations supporting the phase-out

Pricing

Free to attend but you must register.

Where and when

Durham Miners Hall, Flass Street, Durham. DH1 4BE

Register to attend