Our Queer Planet: Environmental Rights and LGBTQI+ Defenders

Our Queer Planet: Our Queer UN: Environmental Justice, Climate, and LGBTQI+ Rights

Date and Time

April 22, 2026
12:00PM - 01:30PM EDT
Attend this event via Zoom

Our Queer Planet: Environmental Rights and LGBTQI+ Defenders

The intersection of environmental rights and LGBTQI+ rights is one of the most urgent and underexplored frontiers in international human rights law. Environmental defenders — people who stand up for communities' rights to clean water, land, air, and a safe climate — already face some of the world's most severe patterns of violence, criminalization, and persecution. LGBTQI+ defenders carry an added burden: they are targeted not only for their environmental advocacy, but for who they are. This compounded vulnerability demands dedicated attention from the international community. 

Speaker

  • Astrid Puentes Riaño, UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Environmental Defenders.

Moderator

  • Victor Madrigal-Borloz, UN Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity (2018-2023).

Contact

Anna Livia Arida
aarida@hks.harvard.edu

Organized by the Carr-Ryan Center for Human Rights at Harvard Kennedy School and cosponsored by the Weatherhead Research Cluster on Global LGBTQI+ Human Rights.

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