Policy at the Crossroads: Embedding Human Rights in Climate Action

In a landmark Tanner Lecture at Oxford on June 3, 2025, as part of the Right Here, Right Now Global Climate Summit, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk delivered a powerful call for transformative global leadership to confront the climate crisis as both an environmental catastrophe and an urgent human rights imperative. Denouncing the entrenched systems and false hierarchies that have driven environmental destruction and global inequality, Türk outlined a four-part agenda: embedding human rights at the heart of climate governance; accelerating a just transition to renewable energy while ensuring corporate accountability; advancing climate justice through financial reparations and legal enforcement; and mobilizing bold political leadership grounded in dignity, equity, and global solidarity. Emphasizing the essential role of universities, businesses, and civil society, he called for a new politics—one rooted in dialogue, compassion, and humanity’s deep interdependence with the natural world.

About Volker Türk

A lifelong advocate for universal human rights, Volker Türk has dedicated his career to protecting the world’s most vulnerable, including refugees and displaced populations. Prior to his appointment as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, he served as Under-Secretary-General for Policy in the UN Secretary-General’s Executive Office, where he played a central role in shaping the Global Compact on Refugees. A widely published authority on refugee and human rights law, Türk holds a doctorate in international law from the University of Vienna and an LL.M. from the University of Linz, Austria.