We had seven delegates at the recent 30th Conference of the Parties (COP30), under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Belém, Brazil.

Durham Law professor Elisa Morgera is advising governments on how human rights can be included in negotiations at the COP30 climate summit.

Durham University hosted an event at the Ocean Pavilion at COP30: 'New Research Frontiers in Law and Science: from the deep Sea to rising Sea levels'.

Durham University will be hosting an official UNFCCC Side Event at COP30, in Belém, Brazil. We are proud to continue our tradition of hosting events at conferences of the parties (COPs), and we are committed to maintaining active engagment with the UNFCCC processes as an observer NGO.

Professor Elisa Morgera shared her insights with the BBC News on how the COP30 is a crucial multilateral conference to address climate change crisis.

On 17th of October, at the third Committee, 19th plenary meeting - General Assembly, 80th session, Professor Elisa Morgera, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change, presented a report on: 'Human Rights-based Approach to the Energy Transition'

On the 13th of October, the annual Forum on Comparative and European Energy Law (FCEEL) at the University of Düsseldorf discussed the Legitimacy of rights-based climate change adjudication.

On 13 October 2025, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change, Professor Elisa Morgera, participated in the opening of the fifth session of the UN Forum on Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law in Geneva.

On the 9th and 10th October 2025, Durham University’s Centre for Sustainable Development Law and Policy (CSDLP), in collaboration with the European Center of Just Transition Research and Impact-Driven Transfer (JTC) at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, hosted the Second Annual International Conference on “Just Transitions to a Net Zero World” at the historic Redhills Durham Miners Hall.

Judge Ida Caracciolo, Judge at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, opened the second round of our Global Law Lecture Series, 'New Frontiers in Environmental Adjudication', with her lecture on 'The ITLOS Advisory Opinion on Climate Change and International Law' at Durham Law School. 

Dr Katalin Sulyok has been selected as Lead Author in Working Group 3 of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) during the IPCC's 7th Assessment Cycle running until 2029.

A blog contribution by Dr Katalin Sulyok to Völkerrechtsblog - International Law and International Legal Thought - reflecting on the recent Advisory Opinion by the International Court of Justice: 'Obligations of States in Respect of Climate Change'. (Photo by Rafael Ishkhanyan on Unsplash.)