There is no more possible denying the impacts of climate change. Extreme weather events are becoming more frequent, average temperatures increasing and so is the potential for other consequences such as global pandemics.
As a society, adaptation is urgently required to ensure our own survival. So called ‘Climate adaptation’, refers to changes made in ecological, but also social and economic systems, in prevention of, or, in response to, climate change impacts.
At RWI we aim to help countries become less vulnerable and more resilient by carrying out projects and research on climate change adaption. Since there is no ‘one fits all’ solution; our projects are designed to find the best way to support our partners in their development of adaptation mechanisms, all while promoting human rights and equality.
Matthew Scott
Matthew Scott is senior researcher and leader of the Human Rights and the Environment thematic area at the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law. He is also associate professor and adjunct senior lecturer at the Faculty of Law at Lund University. His work focuses on integrating social science perspectives with international legal standards to promote context-sensitive, human rights-based law, policy and practice relating to disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation. This work is guided by the Framework for Integrating Rights and Equality (FIRE), which he has pioneered through a series of collaborations with academic and development partners in Asia-Pacific, Africa and Europe. His primary area of expertise concerns human mobility in the context of disasters and climate change, on which he has published widely. Current research and programming interests concern urban climate-related human mobility, building resilience to pandemic risk, and rights-based climate adaptation using the FIRE framework.
He holds a PhD in Public International Law from Lund University and a MA in Social Anthropology of Development from SOAS. He practiced immigration and asylum law in London before entering academia. He is a member of the advisory committee of the Platform on Disaster Displacement and the editorial board of the Yearbook of International Disaster Law, and a founding member of the Nordic Network on Climate Related Displacement and Mobility and the Asia-Pacific Academic Network on Disaster Displacement.
At Lund University he convenes the introduction to human rights law course and the short course on human rights law, the environment and climate change on the LLM in international human rights law programme. He also lectures on the MSc programme in disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation.
For further updates on his research, please refer to his Research profile:
https://portal.research.lu.se/en/persons/matthew-scott
Claudia Ituarte-Lima
Dr. Claudia Ituarte-Lima is Leader of the Human Rights and the Environment thematic area and senior researcher at the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law.
Dr. Claudia Ituarte-Lima an international public lawyer and scholar with over two decades of experience at the intersection of human rights, biodiversity, and climate change law and policy. Holding an MPhil from the University of Cambridge and a PhD from University College London, she works as Thematic Lead and Senior Researcher at the Raoul Wallenberg Institute in Sweden and serves as Director of the Global Network for Human Rights and the Environment.
Her work bridges legal analysis with sustainability science to address critical environmental and human rights governance challenges. Using participatory approaches, she ensures her research is both impactful for the communities she engages with and innovative in advancing knowledge on environmental justice and social-ecological dynamics. She has authored over 25 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, alongside more than 35 technical reports and policy briefs. Her publications consolidate international human rights and gender equality standards within biodiversity, climate change adaptation, disaster risk reduction, and environmental human rights defenders contexts. Additionally, she has conducted empirical research at subnational levels, providing valuable localized insights. Her research has been published in multiple languages, including English, Spanish, Burmese, Thai, Vietnamese, Japanese, and Chinese.
Together with partner organizations, she has designed and facilitated capacity-bridging initiatives with professionals across three continents: blended learning courses with judges, National Human Rights Institutions, public prosecutors and bar associations in Asia; in Latin America and the Caribbean, facilitating UNEP’s Fifth Montevideo Environmental Law Programme Conference in Panama; in Africa, delivering workshops for UNEP and UNDP staff in Kenya. She has also contributed significantly to integrating human rights into the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) decisions. Her proposals on human rights safeguards in biodiversity financing mechanisms were adopted by the CBD’s 193 Parties. Furthermore, she has served as an expert in policy support tools for the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).
Committed to disseminating research insights broadly, her op-eds and articles have been featured in prominent platforms like The Conversation, the World Economic Forum, The Diplomat, and Inter Press Service News Agency. Living and working across Sweden, Mexico, Kenya, Japan, Canada, and the Peruvian and Ecuadorian Amazon has enriched her understanding of diverse cultural and environmental contexts with unique skills to catalyze research and action with international scope while being contextually relevant.
For further updates on her research, please refer to her Research profile:
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Claudia-Ituarte-Lima
https://portal.research.lu.se/en/persons/claudia-ituarte-lima