On 27 October 2026, an audience of government legal advisers, other international law practitioners and academics attended the 11th annual Freshfields’ Public International Law Seminar.
The topic of this year’s seminar was “Due Diligence in International Law: the Environment, Human Rights and Cybersecurity.”
Over the course of an hour-long discussion, the speakers explored the legal character, scope and content of due diligence in international law, focusing on its application to transboundary environmental harm and climate change, the protection of human rights, and cyber operations.
Climate change and a variable standard: whether the recent climate change advisory opinions from the International Court of Justice, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights signal a stricter standard for due diligence in other areas of international law.
Freshfields’ Public International Law Seminar is held every year as a side event of the Sixth Committee (Legal) of the United Nations General Assembly.