2025 External Programme in Vanuatu

The 2025 External Programme took place in Port-Vila from 3 to 10 October 2025. More than 30 local and regional participants took part in this 46th edition of the programme, which focused on “International Law, Climate Change, and Climate Justice: Achievements and Challenges“. This programme was sponsored by Australia, France, Portugal, and the Centre for International Law of the National University of Singapore.

The core programme consisted of the following lectures:

• The International Regime for the Protection of the Environment and the Climate System
  Prof. Moïse Makane Mbengue,
  Professor at the University of Geneva, Member of the Curatorium
• International Law and the Protection of Small Island States in the Face of Climate Change and Rising Sea Levels – Recent Developments
  Aspects Related to the Law of the Sea and the Environment
  Prof. Nilüfer Oral
  Director of the National University of Singapore Centre for International Law and Member of the International Law Commission, Member of the Curatorium
• International Law and the Protection of Small Island States in the Face of Climate Change and Rising Sea Levels – Recent Developments
  Aspects Related to Statehood and the Protection of Persons Affected
  Prof. Patrícia Galvão Teles
  Professor at the Autonomous University of Lisbon and Member of the International Law Commission, Member of the Curatorium
• Dealing with Climate Change Issues within Investment Arbitration: Challenges and Prospective Assessments
  Prof. Diego P. Fernández Arroyo
  Ex-President of the Curatorium, Professor at Sciences Po Law School, Paris
• Access to Inter-State Justice; Ways and Limits to the Peaceful Settlement of Inter-State Disputes
  Prof. Jean-Marc Thouvenin
  Secretary-General, Professor at Paris-Nanterre University

A number of afternoon lecturers were delivered to attendees: by the Pacific Islands Law Officers’ Network and the Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change; by Ms. Astrid Puentes Riano, UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Right to a Clean, Healthy, and Sustainable Environment; and by Mr. Bryce Williams, legal counsel at the Permanent Court of Arbitration. 

Brochure of the 2025 External Programme