UCC researchers to explore Indigenous rights at Mary Robinson Climate Conference

28 Apr 2025

• Landmark event will bring together global leaders, scientists, activists, and policymakers to address the world’s most pressing environmental challenges.
• UCC experts in Indigenous rights and climate justice among speakers.

Indigenous rights and decolonial climate solutions in the face of the escalating climate crisis will be addressed by UCC experts at the Mary Robinson Climate and Nature Conference, taking place on 26 - 27 May 2025. The conference brings together leading scientists, activists, and policymakers to address the world’s most pressing environmental challenges.

Researchers from UCC’s Indigenous Rights Cluster will join a join a critical conversation on Indigenous self-determination, environmental justice, and transformative education.

The session will spotlight how decolonial approaches - rooted in community, land, and cultural continuity - can shape more inclusive pathways toward ecological and social regeneration.

UCC speakers include:

• Dr Elena Kavanagh, Lead of the Indigenous Rights Cluster with the Centre for Criminal Justice and Human Rights (CCJHR) at UCC and affiliate researcher at the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk, University of Cambridge. Elena will explore participatory rights and indigenous knowledge in global governance during polycrisis.
• Cedar James Monroe, PhD Researcher, the Study of Religions Department at UCC College of Arts, Celtic Studies and Social Sciences, who will address decolonial discourse, folk religion, and dialogue with Indigenous peoples in Ireland’s biodiversity crisis.
• María D'Jalma Torres Sánchez, Research Associate, Indigenous Rights Cluster, CCJHR, UCC. Maria will explore interculturality and the Rights of Nature: A Global Citizenship Education and Decolonial Framework to Counter the Climate Crisis.

Cedar James Monroe, UCC Study of Religions Department, said: “As custodians of the lands, Indigenous peoples possess traditional knowledge that could be invaluable in mitigating the crisis and fostering resilience. This session will offer a broad range of discourses on decolonial responses to the polycrisis - ranging from the participatory rights of Indigenous peoples in global governance, to the role of Interculturality in advocating for the Rights of Nature, and culminating in a reflection on Ireland’s own landscapes, traditions, and biodiversity challenges.”

For more information on the conference and to register, visit: Mary Robinson Climate and Nature Conference 2025