This event is hosted by the Hertie School Centre for Fundamental Rights in collaboration with the Berlin Human Rights Film Festival.
The prize-winning documentary 'Duty of Care' tells the exclusive, inside story of Roger Cox, a Dutch lawyer, who successfully sued a government and an oil giant in landmark court cases which established that those in power owe a duty of care to citizens to avoid the catastrophic outcomes of climate change.
Event summary
The Centre for Fundamental Rights and the Human Rights Film Festival Berlin is hosting a screening of 'Duty of Care', followed by a post-screening discussion with Juan Auz (Centre for Fundamental Rights, Hertie School), Anne Kling (Research Centre for European Environmental Law, University Bremen) and Miriam Saage Maaß (European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights), chaired by Prof. Başak Çalı (Centre for Fundamental Rights, Hertie School). Panel members will discuss the implications of the development described in the film within the broader momentum for climate change litigation and the questions relevant to hurdles of climate change litigation against governments as well as against corporations in different parts of the world.
Speakers
Juan Auz is a PhD candidate at the Centre for Fundamental Rights. He is also the Co-Founder of Terra Mater and former Executive Director of Fundación Pachamama, two organisations that defend the rights of indigenous peoples in the Ecuadorian Amazon and protect the remaining ecosystems of indigenous territories.
Anne Kling is a lawyer and PhD candidate at the Research Center for European Environmental Law at the University Bremen. Her thesis looks at climate impact assessment and the courts. Anne studied law at Humboldt-University in Berlin and King’s College London and was a visiting scholar at the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School.
Miriam Saage Maaß is a lawyer and legal director at European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), where she has developed and headed the Business and Human Rights program. She worked on various cases against corporations, including civil proceedings against German retailer KiK with regards to labour exploitation in South Asia. She regularly publishes articles on the question of corporate accountability for human rights violations in global supply chains and is an internationally renowned expert for corporate responsibility and human rights.
Chair
Başak Çalı is Professor of International Law at the Hertie School and Co-Director of the School's Centre for Fundamental Rights. She is an expert in international law and institutions, international human rights law and policy. She has authored publications on theories of international law, the relationship between international law and domestic law, standards of review in international law, interpretation of human rights law, legitimacy of human rights courts and implementation of human rights judgments.
