Dr Ian Fry will discuss some of the drivers of conflict brought about by climate change. He will link this to human rights violations particularly in the context of climate change displacement and how this creates conflicts in many parts of the world. He will suggest that for peace to be ensured, the underlying causes of climate change must be addressed.

Speaker: Associate Professor Ian Fry

Dr Ian Fry is an Associate Professor at the Fenner School of Environment and Society at the Australian National University in Canberra, with a focus on international environmental policy and environmental law.

He is dual citizen of Australia and Tuvalu and worked for the Tuvalu government for over 21 years and was appointed as their Ambassador for Climate Change and Environment 2015-2019. Ian is the former UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Climate Change. Ian is an international environmental law and human rights expert and provides environmental treaty negotiations training for developing countries.

Chair: Dr Maria Varaki

Dr Maria Varaki is a Lecturer in International Law at the War Studies Department, King's College London, and co-director of the War Crimes Research Group. Before moving to London, she has held posts at the Erik Castren Institute of International Law and Human Rights in Helsinki, Kadir Has University in Istanbul, the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and the iCourts Centre at the University of Copenhagen. Additionally, she has worked for the OHCHR in Geneva, the UNHCR in New York and the Legal Advisory section of the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in the Hague. Since November 2017, she is a member of the ILA Committee on Human Rights in times of emergency.