As governments and businesses accelerate efforts to address the climate crisis, a profound contradiction is emerging: the need for a rapid and just transition has never been greater, yet the civic space and democratic participation required to make that transition legitimate and sustainable are under increasing threat.

Through contributions from experts, practitioners and frontline voices, this discussion will explore why protecting human rights and environmental defenders, and safeguarding civic freedoms and meaningful participation are essential to building the trust, accountability, and shared prosperity on which a truly just transition depends. Far from being an obstacle to progress, these are the foundations of transitions that are both fast and fair.

The global political and economic context is undergoing profound change, with significant implications for business and human rights. Across regions, we are seeing the combined effects of democratic backsliding, shrinking civic space, and fragmentation of the multilateral system with clear implications for the transition to greener economies. A just transition requires more than the deployment of new technologies; it depends on meaningful participation by workers, Indigenous Peoples, local communities, and other affected stakeholders in decisions that will shape their futures.

A just transition requires more than the deployment of new technologies; it depends on meaningful participation by workers, Indigenous Peoples, local communities, and other affected stakeholders in decisions that will shape their futures.

Human rights and environmental defenders (EHRDs) sit at the centre of these dynamics, despite increasingly operating in contexts marked by repression, intimidation, and violence. They play an essential role in identifying risks, protecting ecosystems, and ensuring that projects proceed in ways that respect the rights of affected communities. Defenders serve as vital democratic actors and early warning systems, bringing local knowledge, highlighting emerging harms, and helping to build the trust and accountability on which successful transitions – recognised as socially legitimate – depend.

What is the Mary Robinson Speaker Series?

Our annual Mary Robinson Speaker Series spotlights some of the most significant emerging issues within the business and human rights movement. It brings together leaders from business, investment, policy and human rights communities, alongside voices representing those most impacted by egregious human rights abuse, to advance debate on the most pressing challenges of our time.

Our panel

Our host Mary Robinson will be joined by an expert panel of rightsholder, regulator and private sector voices for this online event. Together, they will spotlight grassroots and frontline perspectives on the growing threat to participation, debate and critique around transition projects, and the consequence of silencing these voices for public trust in the transition. Drawing on our evidence base, the discussion will highlight both rising abuse and the opportunity for better practice, while exploring existing and emerging regulatory approaches to protecting environmental and human rights defenders, alongside examples of positive commitments by the private sector. The panel will also reflect on the vital role defenders play, and the value of democratic participation as a core foundation of a just transition.

Our panel:

Keynote speaker: Vanessa Nakate

Vanessa Nakate is an environmentalist, author, and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. She has helped advance climate narratives through advocacy and policy. As the author of the critically acclaimed book A Bigger Picture: My Fight to Bring a New African Voice to the Climate Crisis, Vanessa brings an indispensable perspective to environmental protection. Her work serves as a powerful reminder that every community has a story to tell, every story has a solution to give, and every solution has a life to change. Her strategic vision further drives global impact through her board memberships at the Malala Fund and Global Witness, where she champions girls' education, human rights, and environmental accountability. She has been recognized internationally for her advocacy, and she is a recipient of the Helmut Schmidt Future Prize and the Haub Law Environmental Award.

Elisa Morgera – UN Special Rapporteur on climate change

Elisa Morgera is a Professor of International Law and Sustainability at Durham University (UK) and Professor in International and European Union Environmental Law at the University of Eastern Finland. Previously, she worked with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in Italy and the United Nations Development Programme in Barbados; and continued to collaborate with the United Nations and other international organizations as consultant and independent expert. She advised governments and civil society in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean, and the South Pacific.

Ms. Morgera has published extensively on human rights and the environment, the human right to science, as well as the human rights of small-scale fishers, Indigenous Peoples, and children, at the climate-biodiversity and climate-ocean nexus. She has also published on business responsibility to respect human rights, as well as on the international principle and standards of equity among and within States, based on international environmental and human rights law. From 2019 to 2024, Ms Morgera directed the One Ocean Hub, a Global North/South research collaboration on human rights and the ocean, which connected natural and social scientists, legal experts, artists, human rights holders and defenders, to support fair, inclusive and transformative decision-making.

Sonia Guajajara - Indigenous leader, former Brazilian Minister of Indigenous Peoples, and Federal Deputy for the state of São Paulo in Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies

Sonia Guajajara is one of Brazil’s foremost Indigenous leaders and a globally recognised advocate for the rights of Indigenous Peoples and climate justice. She served as Executive Coordinator of the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB) and gained international recognition for her political advocacy on issues such as Indigenous Lands demarcation, the protection of the Amazon, and tackling climate change.

In 2018, she became the first Indigenous woman to run for the office of Vice President of Brazil. In 2022, she was elected Federal Deputy for the state of São Paulo, becoming the most-voted Indigenous candidate in Brazil’s history.

In 2023, she took office as Brazil’s Minister of Indigenous Peoples, leading the creation and institutional establishment of the new ministry. During her tenure, she was recognised for resuming the demarcation of Indigenous territories, coordinating operations to remove illegal occupiers from invaded Indigenous lands, and playing a leading role in addressing the humanitarian crisis affecting the Yanomami people.

Her international recognition includes the United Nations Environment Programme’s Champions of the Earth Award, as well as inclusion in lists such as the TIME 100 and the BBC 100 Women.

Wirada Saelim - participatory storytelling practitioner and social-impact communications consultant

Wirada Saelim (World) is a Thai participatory storytelling practitioner and social-impact communications consultant based in Bangkok, Thailand. With a background in journalism and human rights, she works with women migrant workers, grassroots communities, and civil society organizations across Southeast Asia, using journalism, storytelling, photography, and trauma-informed facilitation to support community leadership, dignity, and social justice, while creating safe spaces for marginalized voices to be heard and empowered.

In 2015, while working as a journalist and Citizen Media Network Coordinator at Thai Public Broadcasting Service (Thai PBS), Wirada was targeted with a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP) by a mining company in Thailand. That experience gave her firsthand insight into the risks faced by communities, journalists, and local human rights defenders who protect their lands, environment, and livelihoods from corporate and state projects that proceed without meaningful public participation.

Jens Christian Roth – Head of Sustainability Due Diligence & Compliance, Ørsted 

Jens Christian works on embedding human rights, responsible business conduct and stakeholder engagement across the energy transition.

Lady Nancy Zuluaga Jaramillo –  Americas Regional Manager and Senior Legal Researcher, BHRC

Lady Nancy became the Americas Regional Manager in January 2026. She initially joined BHRC in December 2019 as a Legal Researcher with the Civic Freedoms & Human Rights Defenders program. She Prior to joining the Centre, Lady Nancy was a staff attorney at the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL), where she was directly entrusted with cases pending before the Inter-American System of Human Rights in Central America. At CEJIL, she worked on issues regarding gross human rights violations, economic, social and cultural rights, migration and persons deprived of their liberty.