31.5.2021

Friends of the Earth (Netherlands) v Royal Dutch Shell: Human rights and the obligations of corporations in the Hague District Court decision

By Annalisa Savaresi and Margaretha Wewerinke-Singh. First published in The Global Network for Human Rights and the Environment (GNHRE) blog on 31 May 2021. Photo by Lawrence Makoona on Unsplash. After its landmark ruling in the Urgenda case in 2015, on 25 May 2021 the Hague District Court marked another milestone in the history of climate litigation worldwide by ordering Royal […]

31.5.2021

Keeping fossil fuels in the ground: From slogan to legal obligation?

By Harro Van Asselt. First published in the University of Oslo, Blogging for Sustainability on 31 May 2021. Photo by Liam Briese on Unsplash. Last week’s ruling by the Hague District Court in the Netherlands ordering the oil and gas company Royal Dutch Shell – the parent company of the broader Shell group – to reduce its […]

28.5.2021

Shell-shocked: a watershed moment for climate litigation against fossil fuel companies

Harro van Asselt, Kati Kulovesi, Mikko Rajavuori and Annalisa Savaresi. Photo by Marc Rentschler on Unsplash. The Netherlands is no longer known just for its tulips, windmills and bicycles. Its latest export product is climate change litigation. Following 1.5 years after the Dutch Supreme Court in Urgenda decided that the Dutch government should step up its emission reduction […]

27.5.2021

Hollantilainen tuomioistuin käytti Pariisin ilmastosopimusta tärkeänä mittarina arvioidessaan Shellin vastuuta ilmastonmuutoksen torjumisesta

Kati Kulovesi ja Mikko Rajavuori. *Photo from Pexels. ‘Ennen Hollanti tunnettiin tulppaaneista ja tuulimyllyistä, nyt se tunnetaan ilmasto-oikeudenkäynneistä,’ totesi kollegamme, Itä-Suomen yliopiston ilmasto-oikeuden ja politiikan professori Harro van Asselt pari vuotta sitten Urgenda-tapauksen yhteydessä. Tässä kuuluisassa, korkeimpaan oikeuteen asti edenneessä oikeudenkäynnissä tuomioistuin määräsi Hollannin hallituksen kiristämään päästövähennystoimiaan.  Uraauurtavien hollantilaisten ilmasto-oikeudenkäyntien trendi sai jatkoa toukokuussa 2021, […]

24.5.2021

Sustainable energy democracy: What is it and why does it matter?

By Kaisa Huhta, Senior Lecturer in EU law at the CCEEL Photo by Flash Dantz on Unsplash Sustainable energy democracy is a concept that has been used to understand new citizen-centred phenomena emerging in the energy transition. This blog post briefly explores the concept of sustainable energy democracy from a legal perspective, based on a […]

20.5.2021

Sámi Council resistance to a solar radiation management experiment highlights the complex questions surrounding climate geoengineering and consent

 By Aaron Cooper. Aaron Cooper is a PhD researcher in Law at the CCEEL of the University of Eastern Finland, and lecturer in Law at Coventry University. This blog post is based on an original analysis piece posted on the Arctic Institute website. Photo by Timo Horstschaefer on Unsplash In a recent Reddit ‘Ask Me […]

18.5.2021

Will the new EU taxonomy bring stricter ecological requirements for hydropower?

By Suvi-Tuuli Puharinen & Antti Belinskij. Puharinen is a PhD researcher and Belinskij is Professor of Environmental Law at the Center for Climate Change, Energy and Environmental Law of the University of Eastern Finland. Both contribute to the SUSHYDRO -project financed by the Academy of Finland. This blog post is based on the Finnish language […]

7.5.2021

Taking stock of EU climate governance: key challenges

By Sebastian Oberthür. Photo by Giovanni Bianchi on Unsplash. EU climate governance has made significant progress over the past years, including an acceleration under the European Commission’s European Green Deal launched in 2019. Nevertheless, the European Union still has a long way to go to realise the climate and sustainability transition, which will require perseverance […]