Unlike previous advisory petitions before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, which were all sponsored and filed by governments, the African Climate Platform’s petition represents the first advisory opinion on climate change being pursued by civil society rather than governments through a regional human rights mechanism. The African Climate Platform has implemented a comprehensive multi-pronged strategy to obtain admissibility and secure the advisory opinion before the African Court.

The first component focuses on building a people-centred petition by broadening and strengthening coalitions across Africa’s five regions. The African Climate Platform has assembled a diverse coalition that includes the Pan African Lawyers Union, the premier continental forum for lawyers and legal associations in Africa, the Environmental Lawyers Collective for Africa, Natural Justice and numerous other civil society organisations spanning all five African regions. The coalition encompasses around 40 lawyers and 100 different civil society groups, with strong representation from young people and Indigenous communities across the continent. These organisations actively participate in court proceedings and related climate change events as part of the platform’s strategy to build continent-wide support for climate accountability.

The second component involves pursuing an Afrocentric, human rights-based legal strategy grounded in the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. This approach leverages the Charter’s establishment of legal obligations for states to protect the human rights of African citizens. The petition specifically requests that African states demand governments, particularly those representing historical high emitters, remain within the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C temperature threshold to support a human rights-based climate response. While this approach aligns with similar advisory opinion requests submitted to other international courts, including the European Court of Human Rights, the IACtHR and the ICJ, the African court request stands out for its unique focus on accountability from non-state actors and third-party states that are historical emitters, and for it being driven by civil society rather than government initiative.

The third pillar involves implementing a robust communication, outreach and advocacy strategy targeting relevant African governments to encourage favourable observations, particularly from those countries that have voted supportively in the United Nations General Assembly and made submissions before the ICJ. We also encourage African and international organisations, including academic institutions and specialists in anthropology, climate health, climate science, conflict studies, economics and migration to submit contributions, particularly amicus – friend of the court – briefs, to help inform and educate the court on the complex interconnections between climate change and human rights in the African context.

The petition highlights which groups are most vulnerable to climate change and argues that African countries have an obligation to protect these groups. This includes women and girls, who are several times more likely than men and boys to die in climate disasters, children and Indigenous people whose land is threatened by both climate change and non-consensual carbon offset projects. The petition also covers those fighting to protect the environment and older people. It invites the Court to consider the particular vulnerabilities of excluded groups and make a specific finding on the legal obligations to protect them through inclusive climate decision-making and targeted vulnerability assessments.

Moreover, the petition addresses corporate and historical responsibility by highlighting how 168 companies are responsible for 78.4 per cent of global fossil fuel emissions. The petition indicates that African countries have a duty under the African Charter to protect their resources and people from the greed and exploitation of multinational corporations operating within their borders. It also invites the Court to set out the legal obligation on African governments to advocate for compensation for loss, damage and reparation from historically high-emitting countries.

The petition underscores intergenerational equity because climate change is fundamentally about time. Current emissions determine the world future generations will inherit. This makes them a violation of children’s and future generations’ rights to life, health and development.

The petition argues that African states must manage natural resources sustainably to ensure they remain available for future generations. This creates a legal framework that could prevent governments prioritising immediate economic gains over long-term environmental and social sustainability.

African constitutions increasingly recognise this principle. Kenya’s 2010 constitution, for example, establishes sustainable development as a core principle in public decision-making and recognises every person’s right to a clean and healthy environment explicitly for the benefit of present and future generations. The petition builds on growing recognition that states bear a moral and legal obligation to ensure climate policies do not deprive today’s children and their descendants of a liveable, healthy and sustainable planet.

This would be the first comprehensive advisory opinion on climate obligations from a regional human rights court. It could impact on how other regional bodies operate and provide a template for climate litigation worldwide that is anchored in human rights rather than just technical emissions targets. It could establish important precedents for holding states and private corporations accountable for climate harm.

Further, the petition provides a framework for protecting excluded groups in climate policies, strengthening legal arguments for loss and damage compensation internationally and influencing how courts globally view government obligations to protect future generations. It will carry significant moral weight because African countries contribute the least to climate change but suffer the most from its effects.