Recent developments in the United States and Asia make this a good time to examine the state of women’s rights protection, with a particular focus on the interplay between domestic and international law and norms.

States take the center stage at global climate negotiations, but corporations sit squarely in the crosshairs as contributors to climate change, casualties of the fallout, and indispensable participants in any response. Governments, investors, and publics across Asia-Pacific are increasingly demanding that corporations do more to address the climate crisis.

Discussions of US-Japanese cooperation often focus on geopolitics and trade. This panel will examine the ways in which the two governments, working separately and together, have shaped the global architecture for addressing climate change.

Rising sea levels due to climate change are affecting the livelihoods of millions of persons in Asia-Pacific. While engineers develop physical adaptations, the UN’s International Law Commission (ICL) has been studying needed adaptations to international legal frameworks in order to protect the status and rights of affected states.

The latest report from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) confirms that the damage to Earth’s ecosystems from rising temperatures is mounting far more rapidly than the global community has been able to respond – at least, so far. With a comprehensive international treaty seemingly out of reach, what are other options for mobilizing action?