About this Event
Join us on Tuesday, October 22nd, from 3:00 to 5:00 P.M. for the Human Rights Institute’s annual Drinan Lecture on Human Rights, delivered by 2024–2025 Robert F. Drinan, S.J., Chair in Human Rights Alfred Brownell, Sr.
Protecting Our Future: The Role of Lawyers in Advancing Environmental Rights, Creating Innovative Jurisprudence, and Sustaining the Climate Movement
This year’s Drinan Lecture on Human Rights will focus on the intersection of environmental protection and legal advocacy. As the pre-eminent leader in environmental and climate advocacy in Africa and the recipient of the 2019 Goldman Environmental Prize, also known as the “Green Nobel,” Professor Brownell has worked for decades to defend communities in West Africa and beyond that seek to protect natural resources from exploitation and secure the right to a healthy and sustainable environment for all people.
Like so many climate defenders around the world, Professor Brownell’s advocacy work has come at a steep personal cost; he and his family have been forced to flee Liberia and now live in exile in the United States. The environmental emergency that people around the world face demands that the public help to counteract the growing threats that defenders face and that we listen to their calls for action. This urgent need to enable frontline environmental human rights defenders to work without hindrance and to protect them from retribution was highlighted in the Global Climate Legal Defense’s (CliDef) new report on “The Dangerous Lives of Climate Defenders” and discussed at this year’s United Nations General Assembly convening.
Join us for a discussion on the role of lawyers in environmental activism and charting a course for the future of the climate movement.
Reception with food and drinks will follow.
The Drinan Lecture in Human Rights is hosted annually in honor of Professor Robert F. Drinan, S.J. Father Drinan was a professor at Georgetown Law for over 25 years, where he taught international human rights and constitutional law, among other topics. He was a priest, scholar, lawyer, politician, activist, ethicist and one of the nation’s leading advocates for international human rights. He dedicated his life to humanitarian causes and to improving the legal profession.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Georgetown University Law Center, 500 1st Street Northwest, Washington, United States
USD 0.00
