Corporations, Climate Change & Human Rights

For this episode of Between Heat and Hope we are joined by Professor Evelyne Schmid. Evelyne Schmid is a professor of international law at the University of Lausanne, where she is an expert in human rights. Her work focuses, among other things on corporate conduct and the safe and just operating space of humanity within the environment.

In this episode, we discuss with Evelyne the ongoing Swiss case of Asmania et al. brought by four plaintiffs from the Indonesian island of Pari against cement producer and major emitter Holcim. From the role of human rights in this case, we move to a wider discussion on applying human rights regimes to corporate conduct, the role of corporations in the climate crisis and attempts of regulating corporate conduct through social responsibility and sustainability due diligence schemes. Throughout the episode Evelyne, teases out why it is important to also litigate against corporations and not just against states. She discusses the impact corporate conduct has on emissions and the power corporations hold in the international system, as well as the consensus in the international community that corporations have to be actively engaged in the green transition.

References

Evelyne Schmid

Asmania et al. vs Holcim

ICJ AO on climate change

Richard Heede, ‘Tracing anthropogenic carbon dioxide and methane emissions to fossil fuel and cement producers’, 1854–2010. Climatic Change 122, 229–241 (2014).

Carbon Majors Website

Recommendations

Center for International Environmental Law

Professor Sundhya Pahuja on ‘Metastatic Legality: Companies, States and the Spread of European Law’, 26 March 2026

About

Editing: Simon Waswa

Music: “Delayed Flight” by Michael Ramir C. via mixkit

Recorded at the University of Amsterdam, March 2026

The LitDem Project

This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement n° 101125511).