Conferences

Symposium: „Human rights in the face of the climate crisis“

Castle Herrenhausen, Hanover, 6 – 8. November 2023

As part of the human rights week organised and funded by the Volkswagen Foundation, the FAU Research Centre for Human Rights at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg hosted a 2½-day symposium on “Human Rights in the Face of the Climate Crisis” with almost 50 renowned experts from civil society and various academic disciplines.

The starting point of the symposium was the assumption that climate change – as one of the great transformations of our time – is exposing a growing number of the world’s population to new living conditions and risks that are hardly compatible with a life in dignity. The symposium therefore addressed the consequences of the climate crisis for the human rights of current and future generations and further inquired what challenges they pose for the understanding, design and protection of human rights. From a human rights perspective, what can be demanded from whom in the face of the climate crisis; and who is bound by human rights and how – given the complexity of the climate crisis? What legal and political problems arise when demanding a human rights-based climate policy and how can these be overcome?

You can download the full conference report by Prof. Dr. Michael Krennerich here (Download report).

The symposium also debated the extent to which human rights themselves are being challenged by the climate crisis, for example through discussions about the rights of future generations, rights of animals and rights of nature. The graphic recording visualises the aspects addressed in this panel on Tuesday.
  • International Conference „Business and Human Rights Governance Challenges in Times of Complexity and Crisis?“

    Court Room 600 Palace of Justice, International Nuremberg Principles Academy

    Heilig-Geist-Saal, City of Nuremberg

    The Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg, in collaboration with the International Nuremberg Principles Academy and the City of Nuremberg, organized the International Conference on „Business and Human Rights Governance Challenges in Times of Complexity and Crisis“ from September 24-26, 2023. Approximately 100 participants from around the world, including professors, representatives from civil society and business sectors, as well as PhD and Master students from FAU and other international universities, actively participated in this three-day conference. A significant number of participants attended virtually, given that all the sessions were streamed online.

    After the Nuremberg International Human Rights Award Ceremony and the Nuremberg Peace Table (Nürnberger Friedenstafel) on Sunday, September 24, 2023, the conference commenced in Courtroom 600 of the Palace of Justice in Nuremberg. Professor Christoph Safferling, the Director of the International Nuremberg Principles Academy, opened the conference with a welcome speech, followed by a keynote address delivered by Professor Andrew Clapham from the Geneva Graduate Institute.

    On Monday, September 25, 2023, the conference continued in the Heilig-Geist-Saal with welcome and opening speeches by the Lord Mayor of Nuremberg, Marcus König, and the President of FAU, Joachim Hornegger. It proceeded with panel discussions centered on rethinking corporate purposes, stakeholder participation and rights-holders claim, and the responsibilities of corporations. The day concluded with an input by the 2023 Nuremberg International Human Rights Awardee, Malcolm Bidali. On Tuesday, September 26, 2023, the final day of the conference started with a keynote delivered by the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Development, Professor Surya Deva, highlighting the role of businesses in realising the right to development. This was followed by panels discussing topics such as migration and labour, climate justice, and corporate complicity in international crimes. The conference terminated with Professor Heiner Bielefeldt’s closing remark. It summarized the primary outcomes of the preceding discussions and left the audience with reflective thoughts, emphasizing the significance of hope and simplicity in times of complexity and crisis.

    Please find the Conference Programme and a list of the speakers and their affiliations here.

    Prof. Surya Deva on live stream screens

  • Verbot, Verfolgung und Verhinderung von Verschwindenlassen

    Die Internationale Akademie Nürnberger Prinzipien organisierte in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Centre for Human Rights Erlangen-Nürnberg (CHREN) der Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg am 7. und 8. Mai 2021 eine internationale Konferenz zum Thema „Verbot, Verfolgung und Verhinderung von Verschwindenlassen“.

    Angesichts des Unglücks und der strukturellen Brüche, die so viele Gesellschaften durch das Verschwindenlassen erlitten haben, sind die traumatischen Folgen des ungewissen Schicksals vieler Menschen immer noch jeden Tag präsent. Verschiedene Forschungsrichtungen untersuchen das Verschwindenlassen, darunter die Geschichtswissenschaft, die Rechtswissenschaft und die  Politikwissenschaft. Diese Konferenz gab Gelegenheit, darüber zu diskutieren, wie wichtig es ist systematische Verhaftungen, Festnahmen, Entführungen und andere Formen der Freiheitsberaubung zu verhindern, zu untersuchen und zu versuchen sie wiedergutzumachen, ohne dass dabei das Schicksal und der Aufenthaltsort der Verschwundenen offengelegt wird. Die internationale Konferenz gab hierbei einen Überblick über das Konzept des Verschwindenlassens von Personen und seine Ursprünge und konzentrierte sich dann auf drei Schlüsselthemen in der aktuellen Debatte zu diesem Thema: neue Formen des Verschwindenlassens, die Pflichten des Staates bei der Untersuchung und Verhinderung von Verschwindenlassen und die Verfolgung des Verbrechens auf internationaler und nationaler Ebene.

    Das Programm der Konferenz finden Sie hier (Download pdf).

  • International Conference: Human Rights in Times of Contestation

    June 27 – 28 2019 – Historic Council Chamber City Hall Nuremberg.

    The conference was hosted jointly by the Centre for Human Rights Erlangen-Nürnberg (CHREN) of Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), the City of Nuremberg and the Nuremberg Human Rights Centre (NMRZ). The confernece programme can be found here.

    The aim of this conference was to assess recent political, economic and social crises, which seem to increasingly challenge the normative value and practical relevance of human rights. These crises – the raise of (neo-)nationalist populist politics, increased authoritarian rules, challenges to international law and multilateralism to name but a few – have caused some to fundamentally question the current value of human rights. In their view, the liberal agenda of ever-expanding international human rights is no longer a viable solution to the problems of the contemporary world, in fact, it may be part of these problems. Others maintain that current crises call for more and better human rights implementation not less. Both perspectives seem to address human rights from a perspective of contestation: Human rights being contested and human rights as contestation of illiberal movements.

    You can find the recording of the conference online.