Reflections on the Use of Revenues from the EU CBAM
by Kateryna Holzer, Senior Researcher In May 2023, the EU adopted a regulation on a carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) that extends the EU emissions trading scheme (ETS) to imports from six sectors (iron and steel, aluminium, cement, fertilizers, hydrogen and electricity). The CBAM sets out an obligation for importers to purchase and surrender CBAM […]
Climate change litigation before the European Court of Human Rights: a new dawn
By Annalisa Savaresi, Professor of International Environmental Law at University of Eastern Finland, Linnéa Nordlander, Assistant Professor of Sustainability, Climate Change, and Human Rights at University of Copenhagen, and Margaretha Wewerinke-Singh, Associate Professor of Sustainability Law at University of Amsterdam. First published in the GNHRE blog on 12 April. On 9 April 2024, the European […]
Sustainable finance in the EU – what can corporate reporting schemes add to climate policy
By Saga L Eriksson, PhD Candidate The European Commission introduced the first sustainable finance measures in its 2018 Sustainable Finance Action Plan. The Action Plan has the aim of fostering “stability, transparency and long-termism” in the EU economy and “reorienting” private finance towards achievement of the low carbon transition. The measures are part of the […]
“Historic” or “Historic Failure”? Fossil Fuels at COP28
By Harro van Asselt, Professor of Climate Law and Policy. First published in the EJIL:Talk! Blog on 28 December 2023. Another climate change COP has come and gone. As has become quite common by now, a complex set of intergovernmental negotiations are ultimately reduced to a fight over one particular issue. At the UN Climate Change Conference […]
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 […]
“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 […]
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 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 […]