Protecting Environmental Human Rights Defenders: First European Forum in Strasbourg
The two-day Forum connected defenders’ experience with the work of European and international institutions to strengthen their legal and institutional protection.
Prof. Dr Mirjana Drenovak-Ivanović, holder of the Jean Monnet Chair in European Environmental and Climate Change Law, participated in the First European Forum on Environmental Human Rights Defenders on 3 and 4 June 2026 at the Council of Europe headquarters in Strasbourg. The Forum was co-organised by the Council of Europe, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), and the Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders under the Aarhus Convention, in cooperation with international and European civil society organisations.
The first day was organised as an interactive exchange among environmental human rights defenders, combining small-group discussion with peer learning. The programme covered the mapping of challenges and strategies, environmental deregulation and the right to a healthy environment, the criminalisation of activism and strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs), and corporate harm. Participants also considered legal instruments relevant to the protection of defenders, including the Aarhus Convention, the European Union Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive and the European Union Anti-SLAPP Directive.
The second day provided an open forum for dialogue between defenders and representatives of states, European institutions, international organisations, national institutions, civil society and academia. The discussions focused on safeguarding civic space, meaningful public participation in environmental decision-making, state and corporate accountability, and implementation of the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. The final part of the programme was devoted to consolidating the findings and recommendations from the two days and considering the next steps in the Forum’s development.
During the Forum, Prof. Dr Mirjana Drenovak-Ivanović met Rosmarie Wydler-Wälti and Anne Mahrer, Co-Presidents of the Swiss association KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz. She presented the experience of the Environmental Law Clinic, while they discussed the initiation and conduct of their association’s case before the European Court of Human Rights. The exchange addressed climate-litigation strategy, the gradual development of legal arguments, and the presentation of complex scientific evidence and climate risks before a court.
The knowledge and professional contacts established in Strasbourg will inform the further development of teaching, research and practical work within the Jean Monnet Chair and the Environmental Law Clinic.
