The theme of the 2026 Colloquium is It’s the End of the World as We Know It: North-South Dialogues on the Way Forward for Law, inspired by the eighties rock band R.E.M.’s song “It’s the End of the World as We Know It”. When Michael Stipe wrote the lyrics, apocalypse was on his mind, but so too were everyday images of human life. As we approach 2026 and go about the mundane, the notion of a planet in transition confronts us more than ever before. Scientists highlight how we have moved rapidly beyond the safety zone of six of the nine planetary boundaries, with the Earth system functioning floundering and the long-term survival of all species being challenged. The imagery of the Anthropocene is often invoked to remind us that we have reached a time in Earth’s geological history in which human activities pose the greatest threat to the Earth and its ecosystems and species.
Many sources have caused or enabled the ecological crises to reach the levels they have. These include mainstream environmental laws, which several scholars argue are part of the problem because they are based on the flawed premises that humans are separate from the environment, and that the environment has infinite carrying capacity.