Claudia Ituarte-Lima, thematic leader of Human Rights and the Environment thematic area will speak at two sessions of the “Fifth Montevideo Environmental Law Programme Regional Conference-Legal Responses to combat the Triple Planetary Crisis in Latin America and Caribbean” which will contribute to inform the “Second Annual Forum on Human Rights Defenders in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean”. For more information and how to register please see the following information. Conferences will be held in Spanish and in English.
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
Fifth Montevideo Environmental Law Programme Regional Conference – Legal Responses to combat the Triple Planetary Crisis in Latin America and Caribbean (Hybrid)
This conference will bring together regional and international experts to share knowledge, experiences, lessons learned, and best practices in environmental law in the context of the specific challenges that Latin American and Caribbean countries face to tackle the triple planetary crises.
The conference will be hosted by the United Nations Environment Programme Latin America and the Caribbean Office, in Panama City, Panama. The sessions will be conducted in Spanish and in English and will be held in hybrid mode and broadcast to allow a broader number of participants.
General Programme
Second Annual Forum on Human Rights Defenders in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean
Organizers: ECLAC, in its capacity as Secretariat of the Escazú Agreement, in partnership with the Government of Panama, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), UN Women and the support of the World Bank.
The Second Forum, which will take place in Panama City from September 26-28, will address the situation of human rights defenders in environmental matters in Latin America and the Caribbean, share experiences and best practices in the promotion, prevention and protection of environmental defenders, and continue discussions and consultations on the Plan of Action.
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