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SEVEN SEVEN

Bridging climate science and law for understanding climate litigation (ClimaLaw) (2025-2029)

Theme: Fairness of Climate Solutions

The sheer complexity, massive stakes, and intrinsically cross-disciplinary nature of climate litigation call for experts with interdisciplinary skills in both climate science and law. So how do we train the next generation of climate litigation experts?
Copyright: Diederick Bulstra

Recent advancements in climate science now allow for the attribution of historical climate harms to human activities. In addition, increasingly reliable projections of future climate risks on regional and global scales now allow for quantifying the relative contributions of countries and companies to these risks. CLIMALAW (Bridging Climate Science and Law in the Context of Climate Litigation) will significantly develop the integration of climate science into litigation theory and practice by empowering stakeholders to fully tap into the potential of litigation for climate accountability. To this end, the CLIMALAW network will spearhead comprehensive, interdisciplinary training for doctoral candidates (DCs) that bridges the hitherto disjointed fields of physical climate science and law, thus advancing legal frameworks, developing tools and interdisciplinary concepts connecting academic insight to practice, and advancing litigation-relevant climate research.

The interdisciplinary nature of the training and research agenda will cultivate a novel cohort of climate and legal experts, the CLIMALAW DCs, equipped with expertise and knowledge to address the urgent challenges of climate action. CLIMALAW will leave a lasting mark on academia, litigation practice, and society by mainstreaming climate science into climate lawmaking and enforcement and by contributing to the achievement of the Paris Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals 13 (climate action) and 17 (peace, justice and strong institutions).

  • Envisaged impact

    A key innovation of CLIMALAW will be the setup of a climate litigation helpdesk (D2.2). This dissemination and societal engagement activity aims to serve and connect with organisations working on climate litigation that need specific scientific input. The network's non-academic associated partners are prime clients for this service, as are other civil society organisations and law firms that will be reached through the networks of associate partners (CLN, GLAN). The helpdesk provides a clear path from science conducted to impact in an applied context.

  • Researchers & partners

    Researchers:

    Margaretha Wewerinke-Singh, Laura Burgers, Nataša Nedeski (SEVEN – University of Amsterdam) (et al.)

    Partners:

    Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Itä-Suomen yliopisto, Helmholtz-Zentrum für Umweltforschung GmbH, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, Ústav státu a práva AV ČR, v. v. i., Scuola Superiore di Studi Universitari e di Perfezionamento, London School of Economics and Political Science, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich, Universität Bern, The Chancellor, Masters and Scholars of the University of Cambridge, Internationales Institut fuer Angewandte Systemanalyse (IIASA), University of Durham, Technische Universität Dresden, Stichting Climate Litigation Network, ClientEarth gGmbH, Global Legal Action Network (GLAN), ECCHR e.V., Avocat.e.s pour le climat.

  • Funding

    HORIZON Unit Grant

  • Opportunities for collaboration

    Do you see an opportunity for yourself or your organisation to collaborate on this theme? Please contact Denise Li.