Request for an advisory opinion on the human rights obligations of African states in addressing the climate crisis

On May 2, 2025, the Pan African Lawyers Union (PALU), supported by civil society organizations including the African Climate Platform, Natural Justice, Resilient40, and the Environmental Lawyers Collective for Africa, filed a petition before the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights requesting an Advisory Opinion on the human rights obligations of African states in the context of climate change. The request was submitted pursuant to Article 4 of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights. The petition seeks the Court’s interpretation of regional human rights instruments, notably the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the Maputo Protocol, the Kampala Convention, and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, as they relate to climate change. It argues that climate change poses a significant threat to numerous rights protected under these instruments, including the rights to life, health, food, water, housing, development, dignity, a healthy environment, and the rights of vulnerable groups such as women, children, Indigenous peoples, people with disabilities, and internally displaced persons. The applicants request the Court to clarify states’ obligations regarding: • Legal standards for climate change mitigation, adaptation, resilience, and the redress of loss and damage; • The protection of environmental defenders and affected communities from reprisals; • Participation, transparency, and accountability in climate-related decision-making; • The just and equitable transition to low-carbon energy systems; • The regulation of third-party conduct, particularly that of multinational corporations; • The decolonization of natural resource governance frameworks. The petition emphasizes the disproportionate impact of climate change on Africa, despite the continent’s minimal contribution to historical greenhouse gas emissions. It calls on the Court to affirm that African states have an obligation to protect their populations from climate-related harms and to ensure human rights are safeguarded in all climate action.