Climate COP-28: What is all the hype about, what exactly is it that COPs do in legal terms?
By Tuula Honkonen, Senior Lecturer of International Law. First published in the 2035Legitimacy blog on 1 December 2023. In the advent of yet another UN Climate Change Conference, it is relevant to ask what these massive gatherings produce in legal terms. What exactly are the COP decisions that are the main legal outcome of the […]
Challenging established legal doctrines in the face of the climate crisis: Four legal experts assess the outcome of the Finnish climate case
By Kristiina Ella Markkanen. First published in English on the 2035Legitimacy blog on 26 October 2023 and first published in Finnish on the 2035Legitimacy blog on 13 September 2023. In November 2022, Greenpeace Nordic and the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation launched legal proceedings against the Finnish Government arguing that its inadequate climate action violated the Finnish Climate […]
How to avoid missteps of accelerated EIA and permitting? – Reflections on the proposal for the EU’s Critical Raw Material Act
By Ismo Pölönen, Professor of Environmental Law (Bioeconomy and Natural Resources Law) Photo by Saara Österberg. In March 2023 the EU Commission proposed a Critical Raw Material Act (CRMA). Since then, the proposal has moved from the EU parliamentary reading to trilogue negotiations between the EU Council, Parliament and Commission. The aim is to conclude […]
“Oikeus kehittyy, kun sitä käytetään”: Asiantuntijoiden analyysi Suomen ensimmäisestä ilmasto-oikeudenkäynnistä
Kirjoittajat: Kati Kulovesi, Maiju Mähönen, Milka Sormunen. First published in 2035Legitimacy blog on 13 September 2023. Ympäristöjärjestöjen valitus hallituksen riittämättömistä ilmastotoimista johti tilanteeseen, jossa korkeimman hallinto-oikeuden täytyi arvioida vakiintuneita käytäntöjään. Neljä asiantuntijaa purkaa oikeudenkäynnin vaikutuksia ilmastolakiin, oikeusturvaan ja Suomen ilmastopolitiikkaan. “Ilmastonmuutos on parhaan tieteellisen tiedon perusteella ihmiskunnan kohtalonkysymys, joka uhkaa nykyisen ja tulevien sukupolvien elinehtoja […]
What is energy solidarity? A view from the EU and the energy crisis
By Leonie Reins, Professor of Public Law and Sustainability, Rotterdam Erasmus School of Law and Kaisa Huhta, Associate Professor of European Law, especially Energy Law, UEF Law School. This Blog has also been published as a Blog on the GreenDeal-NET website. The recent two years have been tumultuous for the European energy sector. The Russian invasion of Ukraine in early […]
Could the law of the sea be used to protect small island states from climate change?
By Ellycia Harrould-Kolieb, Lecturer and Research Fellow in Ocean Governance, University of Melbourne and Postdoctoral Researcher, UEF Law School, University of Eastern Finland and Margaret Young, Professor, The University of Melbourne. First published in The Conversation on July 24 2023. Climate change will wreak havoc on small island developing states in the Pacific and elsewhere. […]
The impact-based regulatory strategy in environmental law: Hallmark of effectiveness or pitfall for legitimacy?
By Niko Soininen, Professor of Environmental Law and Water Law, Seita Romppanen, Docent, Senior Lecturer on International Environmental Law and Senior Research Scientist at Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE), Mika Nieminen, Principal Scientist at Natural Resources Institute Finland (LUKE) and Sampo Soimakallio, Head of Unit at Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE) Environmental law was created to protect […]
The EU needs to constitutionalise climate policy to stabilise the climate transition
By Kati Kulovesi, Professor of International Law and Sebastian Oberthür, Professor of Environmental Policy and Law. First published in the GreenDeal-NET blog on 19 June. While the European Commission has launched public consultations on the EU’s intermediary climate target for 2040, mounting calls for a pause in implementing the European Green Deal risk derailing progress. […]
Finland’s first climate judgment: Putting the government on notice
By Kati Kulovesi, Maiju Mähönen, Milka Sormunen, Annalisa Savaresi, Vilja Johansson and Martin Björklund. First published in the 2035Legitimacy blog on 12 June. The Supreme Administrative Court of Finland gave its decision in the first Finnish climate case on 7 June 2023 (KHO:2023:62). After a 3-2 vote, it found the appeal launched by Greenpeace Nordic […]
Reconciling trade measures with development and sustainability concerns: The case of process and production methods
By Kateryna Holzer, Senior Researcher This blog draws on the author’s entry in the upcoming second edition of Elgar Encyclopedia of International Economic Law Trade measures taken to address air pollution, climate change, animal welfare, child labor and other non-trade-related public policy concerns are often set in relation to process and production methods (PPMs), i.e. […]