The Rights of Future Generations: Voices, Testimonies & Legal Pathways from East Africa to COP30
Hosted by the Future Generations Tribunal (FGT) with Ayisha Siddiqa & Fatemah Sultan
As climate harms accelerate, current legal systems are struggling to provide justice—especially for young people and future generations who bear the greatest risk yet lack legal recognition or remedies.
This session, hosted by the Future Generations Tribunal (FGT), brings to COP30 the testimonies, findings, and legal frameworks emerging from their recent Regional Assembly in East Africa. The Assembly gathered young people from across the region to co-develop a Declaration on the Rights of Future Generations, document lived experiences, and propose new legal tools that challenge the limitations of traditional adjudication.
What to Expect:
A presentation of the East Africa Regional Tribunal outcomes, including excerpts from powerful testimonies and the proposed declaration
A mixed panel discussion with legal advocates, youth leaders, and climate justice organizers
Reflections on FGT’s broader work, including its People’s Petition to the International Court of Justice (ICJ)—the only citizens’ submission formally entered into the ICJ advisory proceedings, alongside 90+ states
Why It Matters:
Codifying personhood for future generations is an emerging frontier of international law
Legal recognition alone is not enough—testimony and lived experience must shape the frameworks we build
As global climate litigation rises, we must ensure remedies are not only retrospective but future-facing
Who Should Attend:
Climate litigators, youth advocates, legal scholars, funders, frontline activists, and anyone interested in the legal architecture of intergenerational justice
This is more than a panel—it’s a moment of reckoning, repair, and radical imagination. Join us as we elevate the rights of those not yet born—and amplify the voices already demanding justice on their behalf.