The Shadows of ”Green”:
Who decides, Who benefits and Who bears the costs?
Time & Location
21 April 2026, 12:00-14:00h
Hybrid event
&
Brussels School of Governance-Lisbon/Rome. Bd de la Plaine 5/1st floor, 1050 Bruxelles, Belgium
Registration opens next week!
About the Event
Biodiversa+ Defendbio project and the ERC Curiae Virides project, hosted by the Brussels School of Governance together with the Law Faculty and the Water and Climate Department, all from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, are organising this workshop that focuses on Nature Based Solutions (NBS) seeking to address global warming and to a certain extent, biodiversity loss. The objective is to explore how these ‘‘green interventions’’ when misused or poorly implemented give rise to conflicts contesting the ecological benefits of these projects and the respect for human rights of local communities. By examining how these projects are conceptualised, we want to ask: who is really deciding? whose knowledge are being used? who bears their burden? Are these conflicts merely the result of poor implementation, or do they reflect deeper structural tensions within prevailing models?
The workshop focuses on how land tenure, community rights and governance shape both the implementation and contestation of these interventions. We will look into the role of public participation and Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) are effective mechanisms or whether they are limited by structural factors. We will also explore the underlying causes of these limitations.
The workshop explores how judicial decisions adopted in Colombia and Kenya unfold on the ground, particularly for local and Indigenous communities whose territories are often affected by these projects. We want to offer a space for debate, exchange and critical reflection on what those universally beneficial ‘‘green interventions’’ should look like, and how they can be shaped in ways that center the experiences, rights and agency of those most directly affected.
Programme
12h: Introduction
Chair: Liliana Lizarazo Rodríguez, Research professor, Brussels School of Governance (Vrije Universiteit Brussel)
12h05: Green Without Consent? Community Land and the Limits of Participation
Xanne Bekaert, PhD Researcher, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)-Vakgroep Publiek Recht
In her intervention, Xanne examines the case of Osman & 164 Others v Northern Rangelands Trust & 8 Others (2025) as an entry point inro the promises and tensions of ‘green’ interventions. In dialogue with the Colombian Constitutional Court’s decision (T-248-24), she explores how NBS are governed, contested and experienced locally. The Kenyan case found that wildlife conservancies on community land were implemented without adequate public participation. Building on this, the workshop considers the role of FPIC and participation. It asks whether their shortcomings reflect implementation failures or deeper structural tensions. The case shows how legal ambiguity and unequal power relations can lead to exclusion and dispossession; situated within broader debates on land tenure, conservation governance and carbon markets in Eastern Africa. Placing it in conversations with the Colombian case enables a comparative reflection on who defines, governs and benefits from “green” interventions and calls for frameworks that centre community agency, strengthen land rights, and embed human rights due diligence at their core.
12h25: Not all green is just: Rethinking Nature-Based Solutions through Judgement T-248/24
Martha Robles Ustariz, PhD Researcher Brussels School of Governance (BSoG)-Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). Defend-Bio+Biodiversa
In her intervention, Martha examines the judicial decision T-248/24 of the Colombia Constitutional Court as an example of what happens when the use of green labels as ‘‘nature-based solutions’’ appear to legitimise interventions that can reproduce power asymmetries and overlook communities’ rights. The case found that a carbon credit project was developed without transparency, meaningful participation, the respect for free, prior and informed consent (FPIC), and in the absence of a regulatory framework incorporating an ethnic perspective. Building on this, the intervention questions whether these flaws derived from implementation gaps or instead reflect a deeper structural tension. Placing this case in comparative perspective with the Kenyan case, a space is open to reflect on what’s behind ‘‘green’’ initiatives and how climate governance plays a crucial role, as well as the importance of schemes and frameworks with a human-rights based approach.
12h55: Discussion
Two experts in nature-based solutions and carbon credits will discuss the presentations, after which there will be an open discussion with the participants.
Discussants
Afnan Agramont Akiyama, Post-doctoral researcher, Water and Climate Department, Vrije Universiteit Brussel.
Daniel Kofi Abu, Programme Specialist, Climate Change and Urban Resilience at UN-Habitat
13h30 Lunch
Registration opens next week!
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